Sometimes the most important part of a matchup is when it occurs, as the San Diego State Aztecs ran into the teeth of a Colorado State Rams team on their best run of form in conference play, losing 83-74 on Saturday afternoon at Moby Arena.
SDSU (18-8, 12-4 Mountain West) spent the majority of the game chasing as the Rams (17-10, 8-8), who entered the game on a four-game winning streak and tied for tenth in the nation in three point shooting, made 13 and shot 41.9% from beyond the arc while the Aztecs made eight 3’s for the game.
Reese Dixon-Waters led the Aztecs with 16 points, with 7 coming in the final two minutes as SDSU came as close as 7 points down. Miles Byrd had15 points and had a game-high nine rebounds with SDSU’s most four assists before fouling out with 22 seconds remaining.
Brandon Rechsteiner stepped up to steal a rolled inbounds with 50 seconds to play in the game, which typified the effort put together by Colorado State. Jase Butler had a game-high 25 points, while Carey Booth added 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting and Rechsteiner netted 16 points with five triples.
The Aztecs led for most of the opening 10 minutes, but after Tae Simmons gave SDSU a 16-14 lead at the 8:29 mark, CSU scored 21 of the final 30 points heading into the break thanks to spurts of 7-0 and 8-0. Six of the Rams’ eight first half triples came over the stretch, as Booth had 14 points and Butler 11 for the first half and a 38-25 CSU lead at the break.
Despite falling behind by 15 three times in the game, SDSU was able to cut the deficit to 7 points three times before the final minutes. Taj DeGourville nailed a jumper at 12:53, Byrd tripled at 9:33 and Sean Newman Jr. made a pair of free throws with 7:40 to play, but each time the Rams had a response.
SDSU didn’t have a player score in double-figures until Byrd knocked down a triple with 9:33 remaining in the second half. After making just 32.3% from the field in the first half, the Scarlet and Black made 44.8% in the second; the problem was CSU shot 43.3% in the first and 52.6% in the second.
Another note was that Magoon Gwath did not play in the second half after playing just five minutes in the first half. The post played 3:13 in the first 10 minutes and another 1:41 inside the five minutes mark as the Rams made their push before being replaced with 2:36 before halftime, having split a pair of free throws.
It’s the first time all season that the Aztecs had dropped back-to-back games, and is the fourth loss in the last five meetings against Colorado State at Moby Arena.
Up next is a home showdown against Mountain West leading Utah State, who hold a 1.5 game lead over the Aztecs and play pending the result of their away game against Nevada on Saturday night.
Tip-off against the Aggies is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25 at Viejas Arena, and the game will be televised on FS1 with a local radio broadcast available on 760 AM.