ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Matt Bradley scored 22 points, one off his season high, but it wasn't enough in San Diego State's 72-58 loss at No. 24 Michigan on Saturday afternoon in the Crisler Center.
"I've challenged this team," Aztec head coach Brian Dutcher said. "I've given us a really difficult schedule. We set a game plan. Michigan had been struggling from three; they were shooting I think 29 percent for the year. (Michigan center Hunter) Dickinson had made one three all year and people basically weren't guarding him. And to his credit, he stepped up made three today. They (average) five as a team. I think they hit 11 today…11-for-20. So, when you run into a team that shoots that high percentage from three, especially in their home gym, it's hard to get a win."
Aztec senior forward Nathan Mensah had two blocks and moved into a tie with San Diego State Hall of Fame inductee Michael Cage for fourth place on the program's career blocks list with 118.
Dickinson had 23 points and 14 rebounds, freshman Caleb Houstan scored a season-high 17 points for the Wolverines.
The Wolverines (5-3) led by just two points at halftime, coming off a 21-point loss at North Carolina. They bounced back and pulled away with a 17-2 run to take a 64-45 lead.
The Aztecs (5-3) were led by Bradley's 22 points and Keshad Johnson had seven rebounds to lead SDSU.
"We played a solid first half," Dutcher said. "We wore down. Trey (Pulliam) wore down. All the things we put on the board; win the free throw battle, we led that at half (and) won that for the game. Win the rebounding war. We were up two rebounds in the first half, and I think they outrebounded us by three. So, we had some keys of the game. Taking away the three was not one of them. That was intentional. Obviously, we rolled the dice, and they made a lot of threes today and that always wins college games. I don't think we give up more than five a game when we concentrate on that. We had a different set of thoughts this game. We're going to give them some threes, and to their credit they stepped up and made them."
FAMILIAR FACE
San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher helped recruit Michigan coach Juwan Howard to play for the Wolverines three decades ago when he was an assistant under Steve Fisher. Dutcher 10 seasons as an assistant at Michigan from 1988-89 through 1997-98. He succeeded Fisher at San Diego State in 2017.
Bradley Leads Aztecs With 22 Points At Michigan
