Feb. 07, 2018
Final Stats | Notes | Quotes
San Diego State-Fresno State Final Box 
FRESNO, Calif. - San Diego State had four players score in double figures, led by Matt Mitchell's 16, but the Aztecs could not overcome 16 turnovers in a 79-61 road loss at Fresno State. Joining Mitchell in double figures was Devin Watson and Jeremy Hemsley, who had 14 and 13 points, respectively, and Malik Pope, who registered a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds).
Jaron Hopkins, meanwhile, had 20 points and five assists, Nate Grimes added 15 points off the bench for Fresno State in the 115th meeting.
Fresno State (17-8, 7-5 Mountain West) has won five of the last six games in the series, including a 77-73 victory on Jan. 17.
Bryson Williams added 12 points for the Bulldogs, who shot 53 percent and led by as many as 23 points. Fresno State held a 37-27 lead at halftime after scoring 12 points off 12 SDSU turnovers. The Aztecs (13-9, 5-6) finished with the aforementioned 16 miscues, leading to 21 points, and were without the services of Trey Kell, who missed his second straight game with an ankle injury.
THE NOTE
Despite playing only 23 minutes, senior Malik Pope recorded his second double-double of the season and the ninth of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds. It was his second career double-double against the Bulldogs.
THE NOTE II
San Diego State's freshmen class of Jalen McDaniels, Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel combined to play 75 minutes and totaled 22 points and 14 rebounds in the contest. It marks the third straight game the trio has accounted for at least 70 minutes.
THEY SAID IT
"We got frustrated offensively. Like most young teams, we tried to do things too fast. We never caught a rhythm offensively. I told the team I wish I could have helped them more to find something that would get them in a rhythm. We just seemed to be playing at too frantic of a pace and trying to attack too quickly at times.", San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher
UP NEXT
San Diego State travels to Reno to face conference-leading Nevada on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT. The game will be televised by ESPN2.
Fresno State is off this weekend before traveling to San Jose State for a game on Wed., Feb. 14.