SAN DIEGO – Magoon Gwath finished with a double double and San Diego State had a 20-0 run in the final minutes of the game to rally back from a late nine-point deficit and finish with a 63-61 win over Wyoming at Viejas Arena on Saturday night.
The Aztecs (15-5, 8-3 Mountain West) picked up their fourth straight victory and will look to carry that momentum through a bye to a road game at Colorado State.
Wyoming (11-11, 4-7 MW) has alternated between wins and losses in its last five contests and returns to Laramie for a pair of home games against Utah State and UNLV.
The opening 20 minutes were a back-and-forth defensive battle with the largest lead coming after a BJ Davis three-pointer put San Diego State up 18-12 with 8:54 remaining in the half. Wyoming led by a point with three minutes left before a Gwath jumper with 57 seconds left and two Miles Byrd free throws with three ticks remaining gave the Aztecs a 28-25 lead at the break. Jordan Nesbitt scored all nine of his points in the first half for the Cowboys. Gwath had six points and five rebounds in the first half.
The second half was a game of runs. After threes from Gwath and Nick Boyd, the Aztecs led 34-28 with 16:05 left. Wyoming responded with a 9-0 run to take a three-point lead with 12:53 to go. The teams battled back and forth for the next few minutes but two threes from Dontaie Allen put the Cowboys up nine with 6:35 remaining. San Diego State turned up the heat from there, battling back with a 20-0 run and holding Wyoming to just one more field goal the rest of the way. The 20 points came from Byrd (5), Gwath (5) Miles Heide (4), Boyd (4) and Davis (2) and were all from inside the arc. San Diego State went up 61-50 with 15 seconds left. From there, Wyoming had an eight-point possession with all eight points coming from the free throw line in a two second span. Taj DeGourville made a free throw with seven ticks left to extend the Aztec lead back to four. Wyoming made its first field goal in 6:33 when Obi Agbim hit a three to get within one with two seconds left. Kimo Ferrari went to the line for the first time as an Aztec with less than a second remaining. He drained the first shot and bounced the second one off the rim to end the game with a 63-61 Aztec victory.
Along with Gwath (14 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks), Boyd contributed 13 points, Byrd chipped in 11 points with eight rebounds and four assists, and DeGourville reached double figures with ten points. Heide added in nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in his third career start.
Wyoming was led by Allen (18 points, six rebounds, two steals), Agbim (12 points, six assists) and Oleg Kojenets (six points, six assists, three blocks).
San Diego State shot better from the field (36.7%-36.5%) and from the free throw line (78.6%-68.2%). Wyoming was better from beyond the arc (30.8%-22.7%). SDSU had eight blocks to Wyoming’s three.
THE NOTE
San Diego State won its 17th consecutive home game against the Cowboys, which is tied with Air Force for the Aztecs’ longest active home winning streak against any opponent.
SDSU is off during the week and will return to action next Saturday with a game at Colorado State at 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT. It will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network and San Diego Sports 760.