Utah State had its three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday as San Diego State — sparked by a dominant performance from its bench — posted an 81-67 home win against the 17th-ranked Aggies.
San Diego State had four players score in double figures, led by senior forward Jaedon LaDee’s 16 points and nine rebounds. Fellow senior forward Jay Pal also had 16 points. Micah Parrish came off the bench to score 14 points, and the Aztecs had a 23-6 edge in bench points.
Junior wing Great Osobor led Utah State with 17 points and seven rebounds as he was 8 of 14 from the field. Redshirt freshman guard Mason Falslev added 16 points and five rebounds as he was 7-of-11 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. And graduate senior guard Darius Brown II finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Despite the loss, Utah State (19-3, 7-2 MW) remains in first place in the Mountain West.
Utah State played well early on as a 3-pointer from senior guard Ian Martinez gave the visitors a 5-2 lead. USU extended its advantage to five points at 16-11 following a four-point play from Brown at the 14:29 mark. The visitors’ lead ballooned to seven at 24-17 following a 3-pointer from Falslev and a layup from Osobor at the 9:25 mark. However, the Aztecs responded with a quick 5-0 run to get within two points. A Brown 3-point gave Utah State a 29-26 edge, but SDSU scored the next seven points to take a 33-29 lead with 4:33 remaining in the half. USU got to within one at 37-36 following three free throws from Martinez, but SDSU scored the final five points of the half to take a 42-36 lead into the locker room.
Utah State got to within four points twice early in the second half, but San Diego State used a 10-4 run to open a 54-44 advantage and USU was never able to get closer than seven points as the Aztecs lead grew to as many as 15 points before posting the 81-67 win.
Utah State finished the game shooting 41.0 percent (25 of 61), including 26.1 percent (6 of 23) from 3-point range and 84.6 percent (11 of 13) at the free-throw line. San Diego State shot 47.3 percent (26 of 55), including 45.0 percent (9 of 20) from behind the 3-point line and 71.4 percent (20 of 28) at the charity stripe.
San Diego State is just the third team this year to outrebound Utah State as the Aztecs had a 39-30 advantage on the glass. USU had 10 more points in the paint (32-22) and five more assists (15-10).
Utah State returns to action on Tuesday as it hosts Nevada (17-5, 4-4 MW) at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast regionally on KMYU and streamed on the MW Network.