Two big wins push SDSU to top spot; Pack third

The San Diego State Aztecs played a near-perfect half of basketball last Tuesday night.

The Aztecs, down 44-30 at halftime at home to Colorado State, simply suffocated the Rams, 41-11, in the second half for a 71-55 victory. The Viejas Arena crowd of 12,414 saw San Diego State’s defense hold Colorado State to 3-of-25 shooting in the second half.

“We have the right mentality where we believe if we put everything into it, we always have enough time to come back and win,” said head coach Brian Dutcher, whose Aztecs are the No. 1 team in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West rankings.

No. 4 Colorado State scored just one point in the final nine minutes of the second half. “We could not meet the physicality of them,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved said.

“We knew they were going to punch back,” Colorado State’s Josiah Strong (14 points) said. “They punched back pretty hard, and we didn’t respond.”

Jaedon LeDee led the Aztecs with 27 points despite not shooting a single 3-pointer. San Diego State (20-6, 9-4), which also beat No. 2 New Mexico, 81-70, on Saturday, entered last week off a 70-66 overtime loss at Nevada on Feb. 9.

The Aztecs also remembered a 79-71 loss at Colorado State on Jan. 30 to help with their motivation for the rematch last Tuesday.

“I told the team after we lost at Colorado, that every team has a game plan until they get punched in the mouth,” Dutcher said. “So, I told them, ‘Let’s go out there and punch them in the mouth. But I looked up (in the first half) and they punched us in the mouth.

“So, at halftime all I said was, “There’s no X’s and O’s now. It’s just get back. We didn’t get back on defense in the first half.”

Colorado State (20-6, 8-5) recovered nicely from its second-half collapse at San Diego State by whipping No. 5 Utah State, 75-55, on Saturday. Isaiah Stevens led the Rams with 18 points and eight assists in front of a home crowd of 8,083. Joel Scott had 17 points (14 in the first half) and eight rebounds.

No. 2 New Mexico (20-6, 8-5) won at Nevada, 83-82, on Tuesday before falling at San Diego State, 81-70, three nights later.

Jamal Mashburn scored 17 points against Nevada, including two 3-pointers in the final 73 seconds.

“I am proud of Mash,” Lobos coach Richard Pitino said. “People have been beating him up and he beats himself up. That’s why I stick with him. He has the ability to make huge shots.”

Mashburn lost his magic against San Diego State, scoring just two points on 1-of-10 shooting and missing all six of his 3-point attempts.

The Lobos lost to San Diego State despite forcing the Aztecs into 20 turnovers.

“The fact that we turned it over 20 times and still won is a bit of a miracle,” Dutcher said.

No. 3 Nevada (20-6, 7-5) bounced back from its home loss to New Mexico on Tuesday to win at UNLV, 69-66, on Saturday. Nick Davidson had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Wolf Pack.

No. 7 UNLV (14-10, 7-5), though, led 62-53 with 5:31 to play.

“It’s a tough way to lose,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said. “It was a good 36, 37 minutes. But we just got timid and gave up too many easy buckets.”

The loss to New Mexico was just Nevada’s second at home this season.

“We had too many breakdowns defensively,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said. “We had a lot of slippage defensively. You are just not going to win many games giving up 83 points. It’s not who we are. That first half (New Mexico led 45-35 at the break) that’s not anything we are.”

The Rebels also missed four free throws down the stretch, including two by freshman Dedan Thomas with 20 seconds left with the Rebels trailing 65-64.

“Thomas is such a great player that is going to have such a great career,” Kruger said. “But these are regular growing pains. The best of the best don’t make every shot.”

No. 6 Boise State (17-8, 8-4) clobbered No. 9 Fresno State, 90-66, on Saturday as Tyson Degenhart scored 24 points. The Broncos had not played since losing 81-60 seven days earlier at Utah State.

“The break was beneficial, but it felt weird to have a week off,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “It felt like a month.”

The Nevada Appeal Mountain West men’s basketball rankings for the week of Feb. 19:

1. SAN DIEGO STATE (20-6, 9-4): Last week: San Diego State 71, Colorado State 55 (Feb. 13); San Diego State 81, New Mexico 70 (Feb. 16). This week: San Diego State at Utah State (Feb. 20), San Diego State at Fresno State (Feb. 24).

2. NEW MEXICO (20-6, 8-5): Last week: New Mexico 83, Nevada 82 (Feb. 13); San Diego State 81, New Mexico 70 (Feb. 16). This week: Colorado State at New Mexico (Feb. 21), Air Force at New Mexico (Feb. 24).

3. NEVADA (20-6, 7-5): Last week: New Mexico 83, Nevada 82 (Feb. 13); Nevada 69, UNLV 66 (Feb. 17). This week: Wyoming at Nevada (Feb. 20), Nevada at San Jose State (Feb. 23).

4. COLORADO STATE (20-6, 8-5): Last week: San Diego State 71, Colorado State 55 (Feb. 13); Colorado State 75, Utah State 55 (Feb. 17). This week: Colorado State at New Mexico (Feb. 21), Colorado State at UNLV (Feb. 24).

5. UTAH STATE (21-5, 9-4): Last week: Utah State 84, Wyoming 76 (Feb. 14); Colorado State 75, Utah State 55 (Feb. 17). This week: San Diego State at Utah State (Feb. 20).

6. BOISE STATE (17-8, 8-4): Last week: Boise State 90, Fresno State 66 (Feb. 17). This week: San Jose State at Boise State (Feb. 20.

7. UNLV (14-10, 7-5): Last week: UNLV 67, Fresno State 65 (Feb. 14); Nevada 69, UNLV 66 (Feb. 17). This week: UNLV at Air Force (Feb. 21), Colorado State at UNLV (Feb. 24).

8. WYOMING (13-12, 6-6): Last week: Utah State 84, Wyoming 76 (Feb. 14); Wyoming 80, San Jose State 75 (Feb. 17). This week: Wyoming at Nevada (Feb. 20).

9. FRESNO STATE (11-15, 4-9): Last week: UNLV 67, Fresno State 65 (Feb. 14); Boise State 90, Fresno State 66 (Feb. 17). This week: San Diego State at Fresno State (Feb. 24).

10. SAN JOSE STATE (9-17, 2-11): Last week: San Jose State 73, Air Force 66 (Feb. 13); Wyoming 80, San Jose State 75 (Feb. 17). This week: San Jose State at Boise State (Feb. 20), Nevada at San Jose State (Feb. 23).

11. AIR FORCE (8-16, 1-11): Last week: San Jose State 73, Air Force 66 (Feb. 13). This week: UNLV at Air Force (Feb. 21), Air Force at New Mexico (Feb. 24).