San Diego State defeated Air Force 70-61 Saturday night at Viejas Arena and was aided by a breakout performance from redshirt-junior Matt Shrigley, who entered the game scoreless on the season through 14 shots, 13 of them 3-pointers.
Shrigley hit his first four shots on the night and all four came in a span of less than three minutes halfway into the first half.
His streak of 3-pointers sent the crowd into a frenzy.
“I was so happy for him when he made his first three, and our fans did a wonderful job of expressing their appreciation for what he did,” head coach Steve Fisher said.
Shrigley returned from an ACL tear on Jan. 23 and then went on what he said was his worst shooting slump while at SDSU.
“I didn’t think I’d have this weight on my shoulders coming back but it’s definitely nice to knock a few down,” Shrigley said.
The Aztecs were without their leading scorer, freshman point guard Jeremy Hemsley, who sat out the entire contest due to a bone bruise on his right foot suffered during the Fresno State loss.
Fisher was pretty surprised that he wasn’t able to play in the game, but he was available in an emergency situation.
“We thought he would be able to play, he wasn’t, so I’m glad that we weren’t tempted to put him in to play,” Fisher said.
The Aztecs now have a bye week as their next game will come at 1 p.m. next Sunday at San Jose State University.