San Diego State men’s basketball snags win 16 on the season, improving to 16-6 (10-2 Mountain West) after a late surge from Wyoming gave SDSU a nine-point victory.
In a game that should’ve been a one-sided affair, SDSU struggled from three and from the free-throw line, allowing Wyoming to keep it close despite the victory. Led by Reese Dixon-Waters’ 23 points, the Aztecs were able to put the Cowboys to bed. Dixon-Waters’ 23-point night marks his twelfth straight game with double-digit points.
“It’s been getting easier because I’m taking higher quality shots than I used to, I’ve just been playing within the flow of the game and still being aggressive,” Dixon-Waters said postgame.
Jeremiah Oden scored his 1,000th career point after knocking down a corner three-pointer about halfway through the first half.
“It feels really good. I was hoping that it would play out like that to get it against Wyoming at home,” Oden said postgame. “It was kind of a full-circle moment for me. A lot of those staff members over there saw me score my first point, so it’s probably cool for them to see me get 1,000.”
Miles Byrd cracked double figures with his 12 points for the third time in his last five games, a bounce-back performance after his struggles against Utah State.
SDSU struggled from the free-throw line as the team finished the night 23-36 from the line but mightily struggled in the first half, missing eight attempts at the line.
“It felt like it spread today. Everybody was missing, but I don’t know. I think it’s just a bit of a focus thing, we all put our work in, sometimes free throws just don’t go in,” Oden said.
Wyoming opened up the ball game on a 5-0 scoring run before the Aztecs would get on the board with a Miles Heide free throw and a Jeremiah Oden inside finish off a steal that got SDSU started.
At the break, SDSU was up 35-24 with Dixon-Waters leading the Aztecs in scoring with his eight points. Dixon-Waters had a smooth pull-up mid-range jumper early in the first half that tied the ballgame back up at 5-5.
SDSU shot 50% from the field in the first half but struggled from three, going 1-6. The Aztecs were inefficient at the free-throw line in the first half, going 10-18 at a 55.6% clip.
Freshman forward Tae Simmons continues to show his size and strength, scoring six points in the first half off the bench. Simmons flexed his defensive muscle on a blocked shot that sent the ball flying the other way, leading to a mid-range floater by Oden.
The San Diego State defense forced Wyoming into a 2:16 scoring drought, during which the Cowboys went 0-5 from the field. A shot clock violation late in the first half allowed the Aztecs to retake possession and add to their lead.
“Even when we had an 11-point lead at half, I knew it wasn’t safe,” Dutcher said postgame. “I thought we had an opportunity to really extend the lead in the second half, we did, but we were getting stop after stop but weren’t scoring at that level.”
Out of the break, the Aztecs struggled to put points on the board. After going up 40-24, Wyoming went on a 9-0 run to cut the SDSU lead to 40-33. SDSU’s scoring drought lasted 3:40 before Taj DeGourville ended the drought on a mid-range two, making it 42-35.
Wyoming went 5-18 from beyond the arc and put the pressure on the Aztecs late in the second half when the Cowboys started to mount a potential comeback.
“When you relax at all, you let up just a half a step, then they’re capable of making threes and hurting you, and they did,” Dutcher said.
“We knew we were gonna go on a run and it’s just about keeping faith in that we are going to go on that run,” Oden said. “We are best when our defense turns into offense, so when we can get stops and run, that’s when we get energized.”
Dixon-Waters caught fire midway through the second half, hitting two deep three pointers from way beyond the arc, extending the SDSU lead to 54-38. A spin around mid-range jump shot further grew the Aztecs’ lead 56-43.
“Everytime I shoot the ball, I think it’s going in, but I don’t get frustrated when it doesn’t,” Dixon-Waters said.
The Aztecs travel to Colorado Springs to face off against Air Force this Saturday at 5 p.m. PST on Fox Sports 1.
“Now we go to Air Force, which is hard to play at. You don’t look at their record as an academy team, and if we could get a win there, we’ll be in first place with a bye week,” Dutcher said.
