SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Nick Boyd tallied 14 points, four assists and three steals in the second half to lead San Diego State’s 49-point second-half outburst. The Aztecs began the latter half on a 17-0 run and outscored San Jose State 49-29 in the second period on their way to a 69-66 triumph at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Tuesday night.
The Aztecs (16-6, 9-4 Mountain West) bounced back from Saturday’s loss at Colorado State and improved to 37-4 in their last 41 games immediately following a loss.
San Jose State (12-14, 5-9 MW) drops its second straight game following consecutive wins. The Spartans will look to get back in the win column on Friday night against Nevada.
The Spartans did not trail in the first half and led the rest of the half after taking a 6-4 lead. SJSU managed a 10-0 run near the end of the half and held the Aztecs to just six field goals in the first half as San Jose State carried a 37-20 lead into the halftime locker room.
San Diego State came storming back to open the second half. The Aztecs nearly matched their first half total before the first media timeout of the second half, starting out on a 17-0 run to tie the game at 37 with 16 minutes remaining. The run included three-pointers from Magoon Gwath and BJ Davis as well as seven points from Nick Boyd. After the Spartans went back up 44-41, Boyd made a layup to cut the deficit to one and Wayne McKinney III made a three to give the Aztecs their first lead of the game at 46-44. The Aztecs added on, going up 55-50 on a Davis layup with 8:33 to go. Following a 7-0 Spartans run, SDSU responded with a 6-0 run of its own to go back up four. The Aztecs led by between one and four points for the remainder of the game and Miles Byrd made a key three-pointer with 80 seconds left as San Diego State held on to win 69-66.
On the game, Boyd finished with 17 points, four assists and three steals. Davis scored 13 points while Jared Coleman-Jones contributed nine points and eight rebounds in his return to the starting lineup. Gwath chipped in seven points while blocking four shots.
San Jose State was led by Latrell Davis (21 points) and Donavan Yap Jr. (19 points). Robert Vaihola grabbed nine boards to go with five assists and three blocks.
San Diego State shot better from the field (40.7%-40.6%) and the free throw line (77.3%-30.0%) while SJSU was better from beyond the arc (33.3%-17.4%). SDSU had 42 rebounds while the Spartans had 35. The Aztecs scored more on fast breaks (17-6), off turnovers (25-16) and in the paint (38-28).
THE NOTE
San Diego State outscored San Jose State by 20 points in the second half. It is tied for SDSU’s largest second-half point differential in the Mountain West era (since 1999). The Aztecs also outscored Nevada by 20 in the second half on January 23, 2013.
SDSU finally returns home to America’s Finest City. The Aztecs host Boise State at 7 p.m. on Saturday and Fresno State at 8 p.m. next Tuesday. Both games will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network and San Diego Sports 760.