LARAMIE, Wyo. – Lamont Butler scored a career-high 23 points, and the Aztecs played tough at altitude to earn an 80-75 win at Wyoming on Saturday afternoon.
The Aztecs (12-3, 3-0 MW) and Cowboys (5-10, 0-3 MW) traded buckets early on, with Butler scoring nine early points and was 3-3 from the three-point line as SDSU took a 14-11 lead early.
Wyoming would respond with a 7-2 run to take a 18-16 lead before Darrion Trammell hit another three for the Aztecs, who took a 19-18 lead with 12:36 left in the first half. San Diego State started the game 5-6 from beyond the arc.
SDSU would stretch the lead to seven, 31-24 with 9:40 remaining in the half when Adam Seiko sank another three. The teams would continue their hot shooting for the rest of the first half, and the Aztecs took a 43-42 lead into the halftime break. In total the Aztecs finished the half 17-29 (58.6%) from the field and 8-14 (57%) from behind the arc.
Wyoming would take an early second half lead, 48-47, with 17 minutes to go before Nathan Mensah made a contested basket at the rim to give SDSU a 49-48 lead. A few possessions later, Seiko picked off a pass and fed Micah Parrish who drilled the triple, giving the Aztecs a 54-50 lead with 15 minutes left in the game.
The Cowboys would respond with a 7-0 run of their own to take a 57-54 lead before Butler sank back-to-back triples, making it a 60-59 Aztecs advantage. Wyoming then took a 69-68 lead with 5:31 remaining before the Aztecs forced their 13th turnover of the game and followed that up with a Jaedon LeDee bucket down low to edge in front, 70-69. On the next possession, Matt Bradley drove to the basket and scored, giving SDSU a 72-69 lead with 3:54 remaining.
Bradley would come up clutch on the next possession to put the game out of reach for the Aztecs when he drained a three to give SDSU a 75-70 lead, and the Aztecs left Laramie with a 80-75 win.
Bradley and Butler finished with a combined 41 points in the win, and the Aztecs made 12 threes on Saturday afternoon.
Up Next: The Aztecs return home to Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena on Tuesday, January 10 to take on Nevada at 8 p.m. PT.