LAS VEGAS - Matt Bradley had 17 points and seven rebounds and Keshad Johnson recorded his first career double double, 10 points and 11 rebounds, to carry San Diego State to a 62-55 win over UNLV on Saturday in each program's Mountain West Conference opener. The victory was San Diego State's 15th-straight against Mountain West Conference opponents and its 12th win against UNLV in Thomas & Mack Center in its last 13 tries.
San Diego State (9-3, 1-0) earned its fourth consecutive victory. Chad Baker added 11 points. Nathan Mensah had 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to move in to third place on the program's career blocked shots list. He has 130 rejections in his Aztecs career.
The Aztecs held UNLV to 29.7 percent field goal shooting. That is the lowest for the Runnin' Rebels since they shot 29.0 percent against No. 14 North Carolina on Nov. 30, 2020 (neutral site game). The last time they were held to this percentage or lower at Thomas & Mack Center was Jan. 4, 2017, against Boise State
Trailing by as many as seven points, 20-13, midway through the first half, SDSU used a 22-12 run in the final nine minutes to take a three-point, 35-32 advantage into the intermission.
The San Diego State defense limited UNLV to 23 points in the second half, a season low for the team, and built a 10-point lead with just over half a minute to play before earning the seven point victory.
SDSU dominated the paint, outscoring UNLV 30-16 and it outrebounded the Runnin' Rebels, 55-42. For the Aztecs, it enjoyed season highs in offensive rebounds (19), defensive rebounds (36), total rebounds (55) and rebound margin (+13).
Donovan Williams had 16 points and three blocks for the Runnin' Rebels (8-6, 0-1), whose four-game win streak ended. Bryce Hamilton added 15 points. Royce Hamm Jr. had 14 rebounds.
San Diego State won the game despite being with out two starting guards in Trey Pulliam and Lamont Butler. The pair are averaging 20.3 of the team's 64.5 points per game.
THE BIG NOTE
Brian Dutcher has been on the SDSU sidelines for 35 of SDSU's 39 victories in the series. Those 35 wins have come against 10 different UNLV head coaches (Bill Bayno, Max Good, Charlie Spoonhour, Jay Spoonhour, Lon Kruger, Dave Rice, Todd Simon, Marvin Menzies, T.J. Otzelberger and Kevin Kruger).