LARAMIE, Wyo. – With 18 points each, Miles Byrd and BJ Davis led San Diego State men's hoops to a hard-fought 72-69 win over Wyoming at the Arena-Auditorium on Saturday night.
With this victory, the Aztecs (20-7, 13-5 Mountain West) earn their 19th bye into the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinal in the last 20 years.
The Cowboys (12-18, 5-14 Mountain West) suffer their third straight loss after falling 84-61 at Nevada on Tuesday.
Three Aztecs scored in double figures. With 18 points and four rebounds, 11 and three of which came in the second half, BJ Davis helped spark the Scarlet and Black in the final 20 minutes of the back-and-forth battle. The sophomore shot 4-7 from behind the arc, matching his career high. He also finished with three steals and one assist, and was 4-5 from the line.
Miles Byrd tied Davis as San Diego State’s leading scorer, picking up 18 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals. It’s the 18th time this season the sophomore has scored in double figures.
Jared Coleman-Jones added 12 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal for the Aztecs.
Wyoming’s Obi Agbim led all scorers with 21 points. Playing all 40 minutes, the senior also posted six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
Dontaie Allen scored 16 and Matija Belic put up 12 for the Cowboys.
The game was back-and-forth from the get-go. The Aztecs found their largest lead of the half early on, taking an 11-5 advantage at the 15:47 mark. The teams exchanged baskets through the following 15 minutes, resulting in five lead changes. Rebounding proved to be a problem for San Diego State, only grabbing eight off the glass and giving the Cowboys nine second chance points in the first half. Wyoming went on an 8-2 run with six minutes left, which put the Aztecs behind 34-33 at the break.
The second half continued to be a battle. The teams quickly traded two three-pointers apiece, with Belic, Davis, Agbim and Nick Boyd each draining one in less than two minutes. Davis hit another one with 15:29 to go to give the advantage back to the Aztecs. The lead would continue to change four more times before San Diego State held on through the last 11 minutes of play. Rebounding was a difference-maker for the Scarlet and Black, improving to 15 in the second half. The Aztecs were able to overcome nine points in the final minute by the Cowboys to capture the 72-69 victory.
Next up, San Diego State faces UNLV in Las Vegas, scheduled to tip at 8 p.m. PT.