Matt Bradley set a career-high with 30 points as San Diego State outlasted Wyoming Monday 73-66 in a key Mountain West test on the road.
The Aztecs (19-7, 11-4 MW) handed the Cowboys (23-6, 12-4 MW) their first home loss on the year, remaining in fourth-place in the conference. Wyoming fell to third behind Colorado State with Boise State sitting atop the MW.
Bradley led SDSU in the first half with 20 points, including 12 on three-pointers as his team shot 53.6% to build a 44-37 lead. Adam Seiko, also hot from long distance, added nine.
“He makes it look easy sometimes and it’s not easy at all,” coach Brian Dutcher told XTRA 1360.
San Diego State jumped out to a 14-10 lead, then Wyoming came back, jumping ahead by five. The Aztecs, though, riding Bradley’s high, took over for the remainder of the half, yet the Cowboys hung in, achieving their own success from three-point range.
Drake Jeffries hit four, including one as the clock wound down, cutting what was almost a double-digit Aztec lead going into the break.
The offenses cooled off when play resumed, especially SDSU’s, as their shooting percentage at times dipped more than 50% from their early performance.
With the drought, the Cowboys, down by 11 after the half began, climbed back and narrowed the gap to 65-64, on a Jeremiah Oden three-pointer with just over two minutes to play.
Trey Pulliam, though, stood out down the stretch, hitting two key shots. He drove to the basket at the the 1:05 mark, to make it 69-66, then hit a jumper with 19 seconds left to put his team ahead by five.
Jeffries followed with a three-point attempt blocked by Aguek Arop, and Nathan Mensah was fouled while grabbing the rebound.
That gave Mensah, not nearly the best Aztec at the line, two free throws. But he made both with 10 seconds left, and went six-for-six on the night.
Pulliam finished with 14 points. Cowboy Hunter Maldonado ended the game with a triple double – 13 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
Bradley cooled off in the second half, but added 10 more points to top his career high, set at Cal before he transferred to SDSU. He had four assists as well.
When it came down to a one-possession game, Bradley told XTRA, you “just really fight it out and that’s what we did.”
The Aztecs next play their final contest at home, welcoming Fresno State (17-10, 7-7 MW) at 8 p.m. Thursday.
