SAN DIEGO – Fresh off leading the Aztecs to a victory in one of the toughest venues to win in the nation, junior wing Reese Waters earned inclusion among five players on the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week list.
The native of Long Beach, Calif., led all scorers with 22 points in the Aztecs' 84-74 victory at No. 13/16 Gonzaga on Friday, Dec. 29. In addition, he added five rebounds, two assists and two steals without committing a turnover or foul. He became just the second Aztec under Brian Dutcher to record at least 20 points, two assists, two steals and zero turnovers in a game (also Malichi Flynn at UNLV on Jan. 26, 2020).
Waters went 8-of-11 from the floor (.727), including hitting 3-of-5 three-pointers (.600) and was 3-of-4 (.750) from the free throw line in a team-high 35:28 of action.
The Mountain West's preseason Newcomer of the Year scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, including nine points in an 18-3 run over 3:40 (from 17:0- to-13:26), which gave SDSU its largest lead of the game, 15-points at 62-47. Four of his eight buckets came with the scored tied or SDSU up or down by three points, including a 3-pointer with 6:03 to play and the Zags within three, 68-65. Down the stretch, he missed his first free throw of the season after starting 43-of-43 and is now 43-of-44 (.977), which leads the nation.
In the win, the Aztecs snapped Gonzaga's 59-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents (last loss was a 71-66 setback against UCLA on Dec. 12, 2015) and handed Gonzaga its second loss in its last 90 home games (88-2), since Jan. 27, 2018.
The Aztecs handed Gonzaga its largest home loss since an 11-point setback on Dec. 8, 2012 vs. No. 13 Illinois. Gonzaga had gone 173 straight home games without losing by 10 or more points prior to the Aztecs game on Dec. 29, which was the second-longest active streak in the country since at least the 1996-97 season.
Yesterday Waters was named the Mountain West Men's Basketball Player of the Week, his first in-season league honor. This is his first Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week and the second for an Aztec this season.
San Diego State opens league play this evening at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena against Fresno State. The game is scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on FS1.