There was no need for San Diego State fans to hold their breath in Reno, as the Aztecs ran away from the Nevada Wolf Pack in the second half for a 69-50 win at Lawlor Events Center on Saturday night.
Magoon Gwath notched his second career double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Taj DeGourville matched his career high with 14 points on four 3-pointers and Miles Byrd had a career-high nine assists alongside 11 points.
"Coming off of our last three games, we were playing a little lower than our expectations, so I feel like this game was just a good statement game for the team," Gwath said on the radio post game show.
The Aztecs (13-5, 6-3 Mountain West Conference) held the Wolf Pack (11-9, 3-6) to season lows scoring and 29.4% shooting. At the other end the Scarlet and Black assisted on 21 of their 27 field goals to complete the two-game road swing sweep at elevation and end a two-game losing skid at Nevada.
"It's always tough to come on the road and do something like this to win the way we did, but I think we're getting better," said head coach Brian Dutcher on the radio post game show. "I told the guys we're going to be critical of the plays you didn't make, because we can't be all mad when we lose and just say everything's fine when we win."
While the Wolf Pack enjoyed at edge at the free throw line, making 15 of 22 versus 6 of 8 for SDSU, as well as a 23-15 margin on the boards in the second half, the Aztecs used their trademark defense to take control of the game.
Nevada missed their final four shots of the first half and first seven tries out of the break, going 7:33 in total without a make as the Aztecs built their lead into double-digits when Byrd opened the second half with a 3-ball from the right wing.
Gwath finished a perfect 7 of 7 from the field, scoring 8 points in the second half with three dunks to go with a pair of blocks. The freshman's presence helped SDSU pile up a 36-12 advantage in the paint, as the Aztecs made 16 of 29 from the field in the second half and shot 48.2% for the game.
"It's just playing better longer, (Gwath) always shows glimpses and stretches, but that's what freshmen do," Dutcher said. "Now it's 'can I do it for 20 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes? Can I play at that level for longer periods of time?'
"That's just a young guy not losing concentration, trying to play hard every minute that he's out there and he's making strides in the right direction."
Even though the shots weren't falling for Byrd or Nick Boyd — they combined to shoot 6 of 24 — the duo seamlessly slid into distributor roles as Boyd added six helpers with four coming in the second half. The two starters combined for four more assists than the entire Wolf Pack team.
An 8 point run that saw Byrd find Gwath on a mismatch for a dunk, then hit Miles Heide on a leak out for a transition two-hand jam, got capped with a driving and-1 by Boyd. It was part of a nearly four minute stretch where the Aztecs outscored Nevada 13-3 and built a lead as big as 21 points with 7:11 remaining that enabled SDSU to put the result away.
"Coach Dutcher did a great scout and noticed that the bigs play higher and they don't see the ball, so the lobs are open and they might be good passes that I can finish," Gwath said.
The pendulous first half saw the teams trade double-digit runs.
First it was the Wolf Pack firing off an 11-0 run after the Aztecs opened the game with a Davis triple and a Coleman-Jones layup. SDSU went 7:35 without a hoop during the stretch, clanking six in a row before Boyd finished with a transition layup off a Compton steal.
A DeGourville banked 3-pointer from the top of the key kicked off a Scarlet and Black run of 13-0 that turned a 6 point deficit into a 20-13 lead. The freshman scored the first five points of the streak which also saw Kimo Ferrari and Gwath triple as Byrd punctuated it with a steal and slam.
Nevada scored 8 of the next 10 points, bookended by dunks from Kobe Sanders and Nick Davidson. The Aztecs closed the half with back to back Gwath scores and a driving Davis score for a 28-21 lead at the break.
Justin McBride led the Wolf Pack with 13 points, while Sanders scored 12 points on 5 of 14 shooting. Davidson finished with 6 points after going 1 of 9 from the field and had three rebounds.
The 19-point margin was San Diego State's largest at Nevada under Dutcher and currently counts as a Quad 1 win.
Coming up the Aztecs return home for a pair of Quad 4 games, beginning with San José State at 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28 and then Wyoming at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Viejas Arena.
"Now we have to tie two halves together and be more consistent offensively, and then continue to guard like this where you go on the road and give the opponents 50 points," Dutcher said.
This story was updated at 10:13 p.m.
