RENO, Nev. – San Diego State held Nevada without a field goal over the final three minutes of each half to hold on for a 73-68 win in Lawlor Events Center on Tuesday night.
San Diego State (10-4, 4-0 Mountain West) has won seven of its last eight games and will face Fresno State on Saturday.
Nevada (11-4, 3-1 MW) is knocked from the ranks of unbeaten teams in Mountain West play and has its seven-game win streak snapped. The Wolf Pack host Wyoming at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday night.
The Wolf Pack pulled ahead early, scoring 14 of the first 16 points but the Aztecs battled back. SDSU went on a 10-0 run over two minutes starting at the ten-minute mark with a three-pointer by Sean Newman Jr., two buckets including a dunk by Miles Heide and a three-point play by Taj DeGourville. After a Nevada three to go up by seven with 3:03 left in the first half, San Diego State scored the final five points of the half. DeGourville made a bucket and a free throw, and BJ Davis sunk a pair of free throws to pull within two at halftime.
Just 12 seconds into the second half, Miles Byrd drained a three-pointer to give the Aztecs a 37-36 lead, their first of the night. Nevada reclaimed the lead before Byrd added a layup and another three to go back up by three with 16:37 remaining.
With the lead back at two in the final ten minutes, the Aztecs took their biggest lead of the night on a bucket by Reese Dixon-Waters, followed by another Heide dunk and a basket from Tae Simmons.
Nevada led by a point at the three-minute mark. The score stayed at 66-65 until Dixon-Waters drove to the bucket to put the Aztecs ahead at 1:42. With 31 seconds to go, Heide pulled down a rebound and put it back up for a bucket and was fouled, making it 69-66 SDSU. The Aztecs got a stop, and Davis made a pair of free throws before two free throws by Nevada made it a one-possession game. Elzie Harrington made both his shots from the charity stripe, and another stop finished the game with a 73-68 win for San Diego State.
Byrd led the scoring for the Aztecs with 14 points (ten in the second half) and had four rebounds, five assists, a block and two steals. Dixon-Waters, Heide, Davis and DeGourville each scored ten points. Heide and Davis both pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and Davis added four assists and three steals.
Elijah Price had a double-double (17 points, ten rebounds) to lead the way for Nevada. Tayshawn Comer (16 points) and Chuck Bailey III (13 points) also finished in double figures.
San Diego State shot better from the field (51.9%-35.6%) while Nevada scored at a higher rate from beyond the arc (28.6%-23.5%) and the free throw line (90.0%-68.4%). SDSU won the rebounding battle (38-31). The Aztecs scored more points in the paint (42-16), in transition (16-9) and off the bench (37-9).
THE NOTE
San Diego State improves to 24-5 against Nevada in the Mountain West era (since 2012-13) including a 20-5 record in regular season games during that time frame.
UP NEXT
San Diego State returns home to Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena on Saturday to take on Fresno State at 8 p.m. PT. The contest will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network and San Diego Sports 760.