FORT COLLINS, COLO. – Magoon Gwath put up a 15-point, ten-rebound double double but San Diego State fell 68-63 to Colorado State at Moby Arena on Saturday night.
The Aztecs (15-6, 8-4 Mountain West) had their four-game win streak snapped, falling for the first time in three weeks.
Colorado State (15-8, 9-3 MW) gets back in the win column following an 87-65 loss at New Mexico on Wednesday. Next up for the Rams is a trip to Logan to face the Utah State Aggies on Tuesday night.
The game was tight in the first half. Colorado State opened with a 7-1 run before Taj DeGourville scored the Aztecs’ first field goal. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson hit a three-pointer to put the Rams up seven, which would be the largest lead of the half. The teams traded buckets for several minutes before a Pharaoh Compton layup and a Miles Byrd three brought the Aztecs within a point, down 17-16 with 8:15 to go. After the Rams scored, Jared Coleman-Jones hit a pair of threes over the next few minutes to lower the deficit back to one with four minutes remaining. Gwath made a free throw to tie the game. Following a Nique Clifford jumper to put the Rams up 27-25, Nick Boyd made a layup to tie the game and Coleman-Jones, in his first game back from a shoulder injury, made a pair of free throws to take the first Aztec lead of the game, 29-27 with 2:29 left. CSU scored the next six points to retake the lead and went into the halftime break with a 38-35 lead.
The Aztecs opened the second half with a Gwath layup and a BJ Davis three to go up 40-38. After Clifford evened the score, Davis hit again from deep to put the Aztecs back up by three points. A minute later, DeGourville made a three to give the Aztecs a 46-42 lead, their largest of the contest. Kyan Evans responded with a three of his own and another minute later, Clifford tied the game with a three at the 13:36 mark. The Rams would score nine of the next ten points to take an eight-point lead with 9:24 remaining, the largest of the night for either side. The score remained at 59-51 until a Wayne McKinney III three-pointer at 6:37. He made two free throws shortly afterwards to bring the Aztecs within four, 60-56 with just under six minutes remaining. CSU went back up eight with three minutes left but Davis made another three and Nick Boyd connected on two free throws to make it a three-point game with a minute remaining. The Rams would make four more free throws before a Magoon Gwath layup would cap the scoring to end with a 68-63 final in favor of the Rams.
In addition to Gwath’s double double, Boyd had eight points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals and Davis scored nine points, on three second-half threes, for the Aztecs.
The Rams were led by Clifford (21 points, 13 rebounds), Crocker-Johnson (10 points) and Evans (nine points, six rebounds).
Colorado State shot better from the field (41.5%-37.9%), beyond the arc (36.8%-34.8%) and from the free throw line (70.8%-52.4%). SDSU had eight turnovers while CSU had a dozen. The Aztecs bench players outscored their Rams counterparts 24-17.
THE NOTE
Magoon Gwath broke the San Diego State record for blocks by a freshman. His two blocks on Saturday moved him to 52 on the year and he passed Skylar Spencer, who previously held the record with 51. Spencer needed 34 games to reach his total while Gwath took just 21. The 52 blocks also tie Gwath with Malcolm Thomas for the ninth most in a season in program history. The blocks statistic was created ahead of the 1978-79 season.
SDSU stays on the road and will head to the Silicon Valley to play the San Jose State Spartans on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network and San Diego Sports 760.