The San Diego State Aztecs were defeated by Colorado St. 79-73 Saturday night in Fort Collins, Colorado, despite a �career high 22 points and seven rebounds from freshman forward Malik Pope.
“The guy is 6-foot-10, and when you can shoot the ball like that there isn’t much you can do about contesting it.” said Colorado St. redshirt-senior forward Stanton Kidd, via GoAztecs.com. “We will be more prepared for it when we have to go play at San Diego State but other than that he is a great player and hats off to him.”
Pope’s 22 points were the most by an SDSU freshman since Kawhi Leonard scored 26 in 2010.
It was not just Pope who was having a great night, though.
Colorado St. senior forward J.J. Avila scored 29 points on 12-16 shooting, and helped the Rams get a 28-5 lead over the Aztecs in the first half.
“He’s a different guy. I don’t know who’s better in the league. He’s in the conversation.” coach Steve Fisher said post-game, via GoAztecs.com. “J.J. has come so far and I’m happy for the guys, I really am.”
Junior guard Winton Shepard scored a below-average two points on the night, but redshirt-sophomore forward Matt Shrigley picked up the slack by scoring a career-high 16 points, and made four three-pointers.
Senior J.J. O’Brien also had a nice game scoring 14 points, and was a threat in the post all night, however, the Aztecs were not able to overcome the hot shooting from Colorado St., and SDSU’s four-game win streak was snapped.
SDSU (15-5, 5-2) will now came back home to play Fresno St., who beat them on Jan. 3 at Fresno, this Tuesday at 6:05 p.m.