FRESNO, CALIF. – San Diego State men’s basketball outscored Fresno State 55-38 in the second half thanks to 25 points and ten rebounds from Magoon Gwath as the Aztecs defeated the Bulldogs 84-62 in their Mountain West opener on Wednesday night in Save Mart Center.
The Aztecs (5-2, 1-0 Mountain West) maintain their momentum from last week’s success in Las Vegas, where SDSU defeated No. 6 Houston and No. 21 Creighton. San Diego State picked up a win in its first true road game of the season.
Fresno State (3-5, 0-1 MW) drops its third straight game after falling to Washington State and California Baptist last week. The Bulldogs will be on the road for their next two games at Santa Clara and Brigham Young.
The first half was a defensive struggle. It took almost three minutes for either team to score and the Aztecs got on the board with a Jared Coleman-Jones layup four minutes and 46 seconds into the game. The game stayed close for most of the first half. With the Aztecs leading by a point, Gwath drained a three-pointer with just under five minutes remaining in the first half. Following a pair of free throws by each team, Gwath hit two more threes to extend the Aztec lead to ten points. Fresno State’s Alex Crawford made a layup and a three pointer as the half came to a close to cut the lead down to five points heading into the break.
The scoring ramped up for the Aztecs in the second half. After Fresno State scored on its opening possession, the SDSU defense held the Bulldogs without a basket for nearly four minutes, allowing the lead to build back up to nine points. BJ Davis and Wayne McKinney III each made a three-pointer to extend the lead to 13 points. The lead would stay in the teens until a Pharaoh Compton dunk pushed it to 20 with around seven and a half minutes remaining. Several minutes later, a pair of Gwath dunks made it a 22-point game with four minutes left. The subs came on for San Diego State and closed out the game with Demarshay Johnson Jr. scoring on a dunk and a layup
In addition to Gwath’s 25 points and ten rebounds, the Aztecs were spearheaded by their guard play. Davis scored 13 points with seven rebounds while Miles Byrd finished a point away from a double double (nine points, ten rebounds) and McKinney III scored a dozen points off the bench. Johnson Jr.’s pair of buckets in the closing minutes helped him reach the highest point total of his career against Division I opposition.
Mykell Robinson led the way for Fresno State with 20 points and ten rebounds. Elijah Price added nine boards and six points while Zaon Collins finished in double figures with ten points.
San Diego State shot better from the field (48.5%-27.3%) and beyond the arc (30.4%-19.2%) while Fresno State was better at the line (70.0%-64.7%). SDSU outscored the Bulldogs in the paint (50-26), on fast breaks (21-16) and off the bench (29-19). The Aztecs won the rebounding battle (54-39) and did a better job distributing the ball (12-4) while Fresno State had more steals (12-3).
THE NOTE
Magoon Gwath became the first Aztec freshman with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game since Kawhi Leonard had 25 points and 12 boards against Wyoming on January 9, 2010.
The Aztecs return to America’s Finest City this weekend. SDSU will be back in Viejas Arena at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday night for a game against the San Diego Toreros. It will be broadcast on Yurview and the Mountain West Network with the radio call on San Diego Sports 760.