Aztecs bruised on boards, bombarded by 3-pointers in loss at Boise State
· Yahoo Sports
With the regular season winding down, the San Diego State Aztecs are limping — both figuratively and literally — at the wrong time as they dropped the fourth in their last five games, falling 86-77 to Boise State at ExtraMile Arena on Tuesday night.
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SDSU (19-10, 13-6 Mountain West) couldn’t overcome runs of 10-plus points in each half that put them in significant holes, while the Broncos (19-11, 11-8) were dominant on the glass and from deep. A 37-15 rebounding edge turned into a 21-3 second chance scoring advantage, as well as 48.0% (12-for-25) shooting from deep kept the Scarlet and Black at arms reach.
Reese Dixon-Waters led the Aztecs with 23 points, while Tae Simmons came off the bench to score 12 points. But both Simmons’ and fellow freshman Elzie Harrington’s three rebounds were the team highs for SDSU, as the Aztecs were unable to grab an offensive rebound until over five and a half minutes into the second half.
Playing the game with a sleeve on his right leg, Miles Byrd was bothered by his knee according to the television broadcast after missing a dunk in the first half. Magoon Gwath did not play the final 11 minutes of the game, heading to the bench a pair of possessions after he got tangled up with and went bowling into the Bronco bench with SDSU’s nemesis for the night, Drew Fielder, which saw both receive technical fouls.
Fielder came off the bench to score 33 points, 21 in the second half, grab a game-high nine rebounds, hit 3 of 4 from downtown and make nearly as many free throws (16 of 18) as the entire San Diego State team (17 of 20).
He was one of a quartet of Broncos that scored in double figures. Javan Buchanan scored 17 points, Dylan Andrews added 13 points and Andrew Meadow had 12 points with three made from beyond the arc.
Boise State used a 12-0 run just over two minutes into the second half to blow the game open, taking a 20-point lead that grew as large as 21 when Fielder hit a trey with 12:32 remaining.
But the Aztecs began to drip-drip-drip their way back within reach, going on a 12-2 run that had Dixon-Waters score 5 points on a pair of jumpers, the last which went for an and-one and trimmed the deficit to 11 just past the midway mark.
SDSU’s final kick came to pull within 7 points thanks to a 6-0 spurt off layups by Harrington and Simmons, then Byrd knocking down a pair of free throws. It would be 7 points against when both Fielder and Simmons split free throw opportunities, but a triple from the top of the key by Andrews with 3:12 remaining pushed the lead back to 10 points and gave the Broncos the momentum to finish.
The Andrews trey was one of two field goals by Boise State over the final 7:45 of the game, as they scored 12 of their final 17 points from the line. Fielder and Andrews combined to score the final 21 points for the Broncos.
The 3-point barrage began early, as after Buchanan opened the game with a layup, the next three Boise State baskets came from distance with Buchanan starting it off. Dixon-Waters answered a RJ Keene triple with one of his own after Miles Heide opened the scoring for SDSU.
Then Meadow hit a long ball to start a 14-0 run, putting SDSU down 22-5 just past the midway mark of the opening half thanks to the Aztecs missing nine straight from the field. Four of the Bronco buckets on the run were 3’s, coming from four different players.
BJ Davis started the Scarlet and Black response with a layup, with Dixon-Waters and Byrd each hitting a 3-pointer and Dixon-Waters punctuating what was then a 12-0 run with a rare dunk. It trimmed the deficit to 5 points with 6:20 before the break.
But after a steal, Byrd missed a dunk and appeared to be in pain turning back up the floor, with a Meadow paint bucket stopping the Aztecs’ push. The SDSU senior was substituted out at the next whistle and went to the locker room, but returned to play the final 99 seconds of the first half.
SDSU had trimmed the deficit down to 7 points after Taj DeGourville made a turnaround jumper, then stole the ball and set up Pharaoh Compton for a transition alley-oop jam. Spencer Ahrens missed a 3-ball on the ensuing possession, but Sean Newman Jr. was called for a loose ball foul on the rebound.
It enabled Fielder to make a pair of free throws, part of him scoring 7 of Boise State’s final 8 points in the half. A make with five seconds remaining by Davis had SDSU behind 34-27 at the horn.
With their regular season title hopes all but dashed, the Aztecs close out the regular season against UNLV needing to build momentum heading into the Mountain West Tournament and ensure they retain a top four seed and a bye to the quarterfinals.
Tipoff against the Runnin’ Rebels is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday, March 6 at Viejas Arena, and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network with a local radio broadcast on 760 AM.