Sometimes the most important part of a matchup is when it occurs, as the San Diego State Aztecs ran into the teeth of a Colorado State Rams team on their best run of form in conference play, losing 83-74 on Saturday afternoon at Moby Arena.
SDSU (18-8, 12-4 Mountain West) spent the majority of the game chasing as the Rams (17-10, 8-8), who entered the game on a four-game winning streak and tied for tenth in the nation in three point shooting, made 13 and shot 41.9% from beyond the arc while the Aztecs made eight 3’s for the game.
"You run into a night where a team makes 13 threes, and then you add that with 29 free throws, it’s tough to win," head coach Brian Dutcher said. "We usually win with our defense, but it wasn't good enough."
Reese Dixon-Waters led the Aztecs with 16 points, with 7 coming in the final two minutes as SDSU came as close as 7 points down. Miles Byrd had15 points and had a game-high nine rebounds with SDSU’s most four assists before fouling out with 22 seconds remaining.
Brandon Rechsteiner stepped up to steal a rolled inbounds with 50 seconds to play in the game, which typified the effort put together by Colorado State. Jase Butler had a game-high 25 points, while Carey Booth added 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting and Rechsteiner netted 16 points with five triples.
The Aztecs led for most of the opening 10 minutes, but after Tae Simmons gave SDSU a 16-14 lead at the 8:29 mark, CSU scored 21 of the final 30 points heading into the break thanks to spurts of 7-0 and 8-0. Six of the Rams’ eight first half triples came over the stretch, as Booth had 14 points and Butler 11 for the first half and a 38-25 CSU lead at the break.
"On defense, they set the tone at the beginning of the game," Dixon-Waters said. "They didn't allow us to get a lot of pin downs. They turned us over. As a team, we let frustration get to us in these last two games."
Despite falling behind by 15 three times in the game, SDSU was able to cut the deficit to 7 points three times before the final minutes. Taj DeGourville nailed a jumper at 12:53, Byrd tripled at 9:33 and Sean Newman Jr. made a pair of free throws with 7:40 to play, but each time the Rams had a response.
SDSU didn’t have a player score in double-figures until Byrd knocked down a triple with 9:33 remaining in the second half. After making just 32.3% from the field in the first half, the Scarlet and Black made 44.8% in the second; the problem was CSU shot 43.3% in the first and 52.6% in the second.
Another note was that Magoon Gwath did not play in the second half after playing just five minutes in the first half. The post played 3:13 in the first 10 minutes and another 1:41 inside the five minutes mark as the Rams made their push before being replaced with 2:36 before halftime, having split a pair of free throws.
"(Gwath) missed two days of practice. His knee was sore and then his back tightened up," Dutcher said. "So, we have to continue to get him healthy, get him where he can compete at full speed in practice and then throw him in the game."
It’s the first time all season that the Aztecs had dropped back-to-back games, and is the fourth loss in the last five meetings against Colorado State at Moby Arena.
Up next is a home showdown against Mountain West leading Utah State, who lost on the road to Nevada 80-77 on Saturday night. New Mexico, who pulled into a second place tie with the Aztecs after an 80-78 win at Fresno State, is also currently a game back in the conference standings, with SDSU heading to The Pit on Saturday, FEB.28.
Tip-off against the Aggies is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25 at Viejas Arena, and the game will be televised on FS1 with a local radio broadcast available on 760 AM.
This story was updated at 2:39 a.m. February 22.