SDSU Mountain West
Pharaoh Cooper slams it in as SDSU dominates Fresno State. Photo credit: Screen shot, FS1

Magoon Gwath had career highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds as No. 24 San Diego State beat Fresno State 84-62 Wednesday in the Mountain West opener for both teams.

Gwath, a 7-foot freshman, shot 10 of 13 from the floor, made three SDSU 3-pointers and blocked two shots. Head coach Brian Dutcher told San Diego Sports 760 that it was “a magical night” for Gwath.

The forward said simply of his good night, that the ball “felt good coming off the hands.” He also now merits a mention with an Aztec great – Kawhi Leonard.

Gwath’s performance marks the first time in more than a decade that an SDSU player has had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game. Leonard had 25 and 12 against Wyoming on Jan. 9, 2010.

BJ Davis added 13 points, and Wayne McKinney III, 12.

SDSU won going away, but it wasn’t like that at the half. Alex Crawford scored the last five points of the first half to cut Fresno State’s deficit to five at 29-24.

Elijah Price scored on a layup to open the second half, making it 29-26, but San Diego State answered with a 13-3 run and cruised from there.

The Aztecs (5-2), who entered at 2-1 against ranked teams, have won three of their last four games while moving into the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time this young season.

Fresno State (3-5) is going in the other direction, having dropped three straight while watching their SDSU losing streak grow to 11, including seven in a row on their home court.

San Diego State also held the Bulldogs to their lowest scoring since a 74-56 loss at Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 16. .

San Diego State shot 37% (11 of 30) in the first half but lit up the court after the break at 58% (22 of 38). Fresno State missed 10 of its first 13 field-goal attempts in the second half and finished at 27% (18 of 66) from the floor.

San Diego State returns home at 7 p.m. Saturday to host the University of San Diego (3-5), coming off a blowout loss to Arizona State.

The Aztecs will follow with another non-conference game, against Cal Baptist on Dec. 11, before traveling north for the San Jose Tip-off to take on California 10 days later.