LAS VEGAS – Freshman Elzie Harrington scored a career-high 15 points on Tuesday night, the first SDSU game of the Players Era Festival, but it was not enough as San Diego State was tripped up by No. 7 Michigan by a 94-54 score.
San Diego State (2-2) is back in action on Wednesday night against the Oregon Ducks at 8 p.m. PT.
Michigan (5-0) will face the No. 21 Auburn Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
San Diego State opened the game hot, scoring the first five points on a Taj DeGourville layup and a three-pointer from Miles Byrd.
Following a Michigan three at 7:22, SDSU responded with a three of their own by Reese Dixon-Waters and BJ Davis made three free throws before a jumper from Harrington cut the deficit to 11 with five minutes remaining in the first half.
A minute later, Harrington and Davis made consecutive three-pointers coming out of a timeout to bring the Aztecs within nine.
Harrington made two more jumpers in the first half, each following two points from the Wolverines to cut the deficit back to nine, but Michigan led by a dozen heading into the halftime break.
Michigan opened the scoring in the second half, but Harrington drained yet another shot following a pair of Magoon Gwath free throws.
The Aztecs made the most of their free throw opportunities in the second half, sinking 9-of-11 shots from the charity stripe (81.8%).
Davis, who scored 18 points in each of the Aztecs’ first two games in the Players Era Festival last season, reached double figures with 11:38 remaining by making his second three-pointer of the night.
Following a dunk by Jeremiah Oden with 5:51 to go, Harrington equaled his career-high of 13 points by making two free throws.
Harrington surpassed his total in the season opener against Long Beach State with a jumper in the final minute.
Miles Heide pulled down eight rebounds including five on offense to lead the way and dished out a game-high five assists after never previously having tallied more than two in a game during his collegiate career.
The Wolverines were led by Yaxel Lendeborg’s 15 points and four assists as well as Aday Mara’s eight rebounds.
San Diego State shot better from the free throw line (81.3%-68.2%) while Michigan was better from the field (50.0%-27.4%) and from long range (33.3%-30.4%).
UP NEXT
San Diego State continues the Players Era Festival at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night against Oregon. The game will be televised on TNT and broadcast on San Diego Sports 760.