SAN DIEGO - Jaedon LeDee's 23 points and career-high four steals led San Diego State past New Mexico 81-70 at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena on Friday evening to extend SDSU's home winning streak to 19 games, the longest active streak in the nation.
Lamont Butler chipped in 13 points and three steals and Elijah Saunders added 12 for the Aztecs (20-6, 9-4 Mountain West). Eight of Saunders' 12 points came on an individual 8-2 run for him to help SDSU pull away late in the second half. Jay Pal grabbed seven rebounds to lead San Diego State while taking three steals of his own, a season-high. Sophomore Miles Byrd had a career-high four blocks and matched a career-high with six assists, becoming the first Aztec to accomplish the feat since at least 1996-97.
When asked about Saunders' stretch, Head Coach Brian Dutcher said: "Elijah Saunders hit critical threes for us in that stretch, and unafraid, he stepped up. He was open, he let it go. Those were important baskets he made."
Jaelen House had 22 points to lead the way for New Mexico (20-6, 8-5). JT Toppin (18 points, ten rebounds) and Mustapha Amzil (10 points, 11 rebounds) logged double-doubles and Donovan Dent scored 11 for the Lobos.
San Diego State shot 61.5% in the first half to take a 39-28 lead into the break. The Aztecs' defense held New Mexico to just 35.5% from the field and 22.7% from deep in the game while SDSU shot 56.9% and 41.2% from beyond the arc. New Mexico was better from the free throw line (91.3%-69.6).
SDSU's bench played a big role in the victory, outscoring New Mexico's reserves 25-15 while San Diego State's defense blocked six shots to the Lobos' 0. Each team was sloppy with the ball as the Aztecs turned it over 20 times and New Mexico did so 19 times. SDSU spread the ball around, with every player who saw the court making at least one basket and the team totaling 20 assists on 29 made baskets.
"We withstood. We've always been a next-play mentality team," said Dutcher on the turnovers. "We'll have plenty of time to watch the tape on Sunday when we get back together and correct things. But when you're playing, you can't just sit there and obsess over every mistake, or you're not ready to make the next play. We try to move on to the next play."
San Diego State hits the road next week, playing at Utah State at 7 p.m. MT (6 p.m. PT) on Tuesday. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network and can be heard on San Diego Sports 760.
Aztecs Take Down New Mexico 81-70 on Friday
