San Diego State continues home dominance of No. 17 Utah State
Jan 6, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego State Aztecs forward Jaedon LeDee (13) shoots a free throw during the second half against the UNLV Rebels at Viejas Arena. credits: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports Jaedon LeDee had 16 points and nine rebounds to help host San Diego State post an 81-67 win against No. 17 Utah State in a Mountain West game on Saturday afternoon.
Jay Pal scored a season-high 16 points and Micah Parrish scored 14 off the bench for San Diego State (17-5, 6-3 MW), which has won 17 straight at home and 10 in a row at home against Utah State.
Great Osobor had a team-high 17 points, Mason Falslev added 16 points and Darius Brown II scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half for the Aggies (19-3, 7-2), who had won three in a row and 18 of 19 to take over sole possession of first place in the Mountain West.
San Diego State took a six-point lead into the second half and stretched it to double digits when LeDee scored seven straight Aztecs' points to give them a 54-44 advantage with 15:37 left in the game.
The Aggies trimmed an 11-point deficit to seven on three occasions, but couldn't get any closer.
Elijan Saunders sank his second 3-pointer of the second half to push the lead to 70-58 with 5:42 remaining and the Aggies did not get back within single digits.
San Diego State took a 17-16 lead on a 3-pointer by Darrion Trammell with 11:34 left in the first half, but the Aggies responded with an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead at 24-17.
Five players for Utah State committed two fouls in the first half.
Josh Uduje came off the bench and picked up two fouls in less than a minute. Falslev had eight points when he went to the bench with his second foul with 8:48 remaining in the half.
Karson Templin was called for his second foul with 4:34 left and Trammell made both free throws to cap a 7-0 run and give the Aztecs a 33-29 lead
Reese Waters hit a 3 with four seconds left in the half to extend San Diego State's lead to 42-36, its biggest of the opening half.
San Diego State could have built a larger lead into the half, but shot 10-for-16 from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes before finishing 20-for-28.
—Field Level Media