The San Diego State Aztecs defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs 84-62 on Wednesday night to improve to 5-2 to begin the season. This was the Aztecs’ first game against a conference opponent this season and they began conference play 1-0.
Entering the game, SDSU had an overall record of 4-2, 0-0 conference record and was ranked 24th in the country after two crucial wins against the Creighton Bluejays and the Houston Cougars.
Redshirt freshman Magoon Gwath posted a double-double on the stat sheet with a career-high in points. Gwath finished the game with 25 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Gwath also went 3-4 from behind the three-point line.
Coach Brian Dutcher spoke after the game about Gwath’s performance.
“He played well and took advantage of their press with dunks at the end,” Dutcher told reporters. “They took a chance of not guarding Magoon early in the game, using his man as a help defender, and he made them pay with three threes.”
Both teams struggled to score at the beginning of the game. Three minutes into the match, Fresno State, 3-5 overall and 0-0 in the Mountain West, scored the first points of the game for either side after a three-pointer by Bulldogs forward Mykell Robinson.
SDSU’s first points of the game came with 15:14 left in the first half after a made layup by Jared Coleman-Jones. SDSU got its first lead of the game at 12:18 after a driving layup by BJ Davis, the Aztecs had a 9-8 lead at that point.
Miles Byrd made the team’s first three of the game with 8:33 left in the first half, giving the Aztecs a 16-11 lead, their biggest lead to that point.
The game remained close between the two teams for the remainder of the first half. With 2:05 left in the half, Gwath hit back-to-back threes to give SDSU a 27-17 lead, giving the team their first double-digit lead of the game.
Those were the first three of Gwath’s collegiate career. After the game, he spoke about how those three gave him confidence for the rest of the game.
“It felt good seeing that one go in, especially because I felt like they had a really good contention,” Gwath told reporters. “It felt good coming off my hands so I thought I might have a night.”
Before the Aztecs could really open the game, the Bulldogs closed out the first half with a 7-2 run; making the score 29-24 in favor of the Aztecs at the end of the first half.
Gwath led the Scarlet and Black in points with 11 at the end of the half, the only player in double digits for SDSU.
Just like in the first half, scoring was hard to come by for both teams at the beginning of the second. For the first five minutes of the second half, the Bulldogs kept themselves within striking distance of taking the lead away from SDSU.
With 15 minutes left in the game, SDSU jumped out to another 10-point lead after Davis made a three off of a Fresno State turnover. The Aztecs now led 39-29.
Once San Diego State got their second double-digit lead of the game, the team never looked back. For the rest of the game, the Aztecs dominated both sides of the ball and never let the Bulldogs get within 10 points for the rest of the game.
The Aztecs got out to their first 20-point lead of the game with 7:35 left in the game after a slam dunk by Pharaoh Compton, leading the Bulldogs 63-43.
Fresno State did their best to mount a comeback, but SDSU was able to keep their distance and hung on to win in dominant fashion; winning 84-62 over Fresno State.
Gwath led the charge in the second half for the Aztecs with 14 points. Wayne Mckinney III and BJ Davis also scored double-digit points for SDSU in the second half, 12 and 11 points respectively.
Overall, SDSU shot 49% from the field compared to Fresno State’s 27%. SDSU also shot 30% from behind the three-point line with the Bulldogs only shooting 19%. The Aztecs also secured 53 rebounds, 29 bench points, 12 assists and six blocks.
The Aztecs’ next game is against the University of San Diego at Viejas Arena on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7:00 p.m.
