SAN DIEGO – San Diego State nearly outshot No. 3/4 Gonzaga, but ultimately fell 80-67 on Monday night at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. The loss to the Zags is the first for the Aztecs under head coach Brian Dutcher.
The Aztecs (2-1) were killed at the free throw line with Gonzaga (4-0) owning a 27-13 free throw advantage on the night.
Nick Boyd had game-highs in both points and rebounds with 23 and nine, respectively. The 23 points is a career high for the senior transfer. BJ Davis added 15 points and Wayne McKinney III added 11 in the loss.
On the other side, Graham Ike matched Boyd’s totals for the game highs with 23 points and nine rebounds of his own. Twenty of his 23 came in the second half after battling foul trouble in the first. Ryan Nembhard recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists.
SDSU never led in the contest, tying the game on two separate occasions. The first of those came at the 14:20 mark in the first half after McKinney entered the game for the first time and registered six straight points off the bench.
The Zags would eventually go on an 8-0 run through the middle of the first and increase their lead into double-digits and ultimately own a nine-point lead at halftime.
Coming out of the break, SDSU battled back to single-digit deficit with a 7-0 run starting at the 16:45 mark. However, Gonzaga had an answer in the form of Ike scoring 12 of the team’s first 17 second half points.
San Diego State went cold down the stretch, shooting just 2-of-9 to close out the game. For the night, they shot 23-of-61 (37.7%) from the field and 8-of-25 (32.0%) from three in the loss.
Next up for the Aztecs is a trip to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival. Their first matchup of the three-game week will be against No. 14/13 Creighton Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 11 a.m. PST.
Aztecs Fall to No. 3/4 Gonzaga
Fouls and free throws hurt the Aztecs in an 80-67 loss to Gonzaga on Monday night.
