Mountain West champion San Diego State staved off a second-half threat by Boise State, as Malachi Flynn and the Aztecs took command down the stretch Sunday to win 72-55.
The victory improved the No. 4-ranked team’s season-long unbeaten streak to 26.
The Broncos surged to within eight, riding a 10-0 run driven by guard Justinian Jessup. That made the score 50-42 and brought the crowd of 10,651 at ExtraMile Arena in Boise back into the game.
SDSU entered the half with a 40-26 lead.
A bad pass by Max Rice, though, ended the momentum. Matt Mitchell stole the ball, ending in a layup by Jordan Schakel at just under the 10-minute mark. After that, the Aztec lead jumped as high as 22.
Using takeaways to our advantage. #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/zhnPu346hp
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) February 16, 2020
At the close of the game, every Aztec on the floor had scored in double digits, led by Flynn, with 22, and Yanni Wetzell, with 14.
With the loss, Boise State slipped to 17-10 overall and 9-6 in the Mountain West.
After the game, Flynn told CBS Sports Network that his team refused to be complacent, even with the season’s massive success on their shoulders.
“That’s just who we are,” he said. He added that, with the various pieces available to the team, “when we put it together, we’re really good.”
That steal tho ?#GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/YjstjH6ZMR
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) February 16, 2020
Flynn added another honor this week when he was named as one of 30 players on the Citizen Naismith Trophy Midseason Team.
The 10 semi-finalists will be revealed in March.
Kawhi Leonard, Jamaal Franklin and Xavier Thames also received the midseason honor while with the Aztecs.
San Diego State takes the week off, returning home Saturday to play UNLV, at 4:30 p.m.
– Staff reports
