Miles Byrd at Viejas Arena during loss to Utah State
Miles Byrd, shown at Viejas Arena, led all scorers on the road against Boise State. (Photo courtesy of goaztecs.com)

Miles Byrd led all scorers with 22 points as San Diego State bounced back for a 76-68 win over Boise State Saturday.

Both teams had their chances down the stretch – SDSU to lock down the win from the line and Boise State to scramble all the way back on threes – but both were off target.

The Aztecs held a 10-point lead with less than a minute to play thanks to free throws from Nick Boyd. But Bronco Julian Bowie hit a 3-pointer and, after a steal, Andrew Meadow landed a layup to cut SDSU’s advantage in half, at 73-68, with 35 seconds remaining.

Byrd – with his father in the crowd – shot 8 of 15 from the field, including 3 for 6 from 3-point range, and went 3 for 7 from the line (9-3, 2-1 Mountain West), but was shaky in the game’s final minute, hitting just one of four free throws.

That left the door open for Boise State. The Broncos, though, lack the touch from long distance, yet opted to put up threes to try and catch the Aztecs – and misfired on all of them. Taj DeGourville and Boyd each hit a free throw as time wound down to finally seal SDSU’s victory.

The team, after suffering what head coach Brian Dutcher called a “very tough” loss to Utah State, needed to come out on top to keep pace in the conference. “Truth be told I’m still not past that game,” Byrd admitted to San Diego Sports 760.

“Feel like we made up for some of that by getting a good road win,” Dutcher told Sports 760.

DeGourville added 13 points while shooting 4 of 7 from the field and 4 for 5 from the line with six rebounds. Jared Coleman-Jones finished 4 of 10 from the field with nine points.

The Broncos (11-4, 3-1) were led in scoring by Chris Lockett Jr., who finished with 16 points. Meadow added 14 points and Bowie finished with 10. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for Boise State.

Two keys to the game – San Diego State scored 21 second-chance points compared to Boise State’s nine while outrebounding the Broncos 39 to 29.

“We did a real good job on the glass and I think that was a real difference in the game,” Dutcher said.

SDSU, even without Pharaoh Compton, who missed the game due to an ankle injury, entered halftime up 33-32. Byrd paced the team in the first half with 14 points. Miles Heide’s layup with 12:25 left in the second half gave the Aztecs the lead for good at 49-47.

Next up for San Diego State, a return home to host Air Force (3-11, 0-3 MW) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.