In a battle of Mountain West unbeaten teams, San Diego State defeated Boise State 56-53 Saturday night in Boise.
The Aztecs are 5-0 in conference and took sole possession of first place with the win. It marked just the second time the Aztecs started out a conference season 5-0 (2011).
“Bottom line we got a win. We’ll have some wonderful teaching moments in the last four minutes or whatever it was. Obviously we have to protect the ball better, can’t turn it over,” Steve Fisher said to GoAztecs.com.
The Aztecs turned the ball over 15 times to Boise’s 10, which helped make it a three-point finish by game’s end.
Senior forward Winston Shepard continued his hot play in conference, notching his third double-double of the season with 13 points, a team-high, and 10 rebounds.
“This won’t be the highlight of our season, but this is another step to where we’re trying to go,” Shepard said. “We put a great emphasis on this game, a great emphasis on this week, and we showed up, we performed.”
Boise State struggled from the 3-point line going 1-for-17, not making a 3-pointer until late in the second half.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t know they were 1-for-17 until I looked at the stat sheet, I really didn’t,” Shepard said.
The Aztecs return home to play Fresno State Tuesday at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPNU and heard on The Mighty 1090.