Jan. 18, 2018
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Fresno State-San Diego State Final Box
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Deshon Taylor scored 22 points, including two free throws with 15.7 seconds left for Fresno State, which erased a 10-point deficit to beat San Diego State 77-73 Wednesday night.
Fresno State (14-6, 4-3 Mountain West) trailed 52-42 less than five minutes into the second half. The Bulldogs slowly pulled back into it thanks to some big shots by Nate Grimes, who had 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Grimes also came up with a huge defensive play in the closing seconds. With the Bulldogs up 75-73 after Jaron Hopkins made 1 of 2 free throws, Grimes blocked a shot in the key by Devin Watson with 21 seconds left. Taylor grabbed the ball, was fouled and made both free throws.
Ray Bowles added 13 points and Bryson Williams 11 for the Bulldogs.
Sam Bittner hit a huge 3-pointer from the right corner for Fresno State with 4:53 left that tied it at 68. Grimes then made four free throws to give the Bulldogs a 72-68 lead.
San Diego State's Malik Pope was kneed in the groin with 5:36 left and was down for several minutes. He had to be helped off the court. He scored 10 points.
Redshirt freshman Jalen McDaniels had 14 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double for SDSU (11-6, 3-3). Trey Kell also had 14 points, Matt Mitchell scored 13 and Watson 11.
Mitchell scored six points during a 12-6 run opening the second half that gave SDSU a 52-42 lead. He made two free throws, a jumper and a jump hook, and Pope hit a 3-pointer.
McDaniels had some nice plays early that helped SDSU to a 40-36 halftime lead. Less than three minutes in, he blocked a shot by Williams to start a fast break that he finished with a slam dunk off a pass from Kell. Late in the half, he rebounded Kell's missed shot for a slam dunk and free throw that gave SDSU a 33-31 lead.
BIG PICTURE
Fresno State: The Bulldogs won at Viejas Arena for the second straight year. They won 63-55 here last season. FSU has won three of four.
San Diego State: The Aztecs, trying to rebound from an 83-80 loss at Boise State, hurt themselves from the free-throw line by making only 24 of 36.
UP NEXT
Fresno State is at Air Force on Saturday.
San Diego State is at New Mexico on Saturday night.