Xavier Thames scored 17 points, Winston Shepard had 16 and No. 5 San Diego State beat Nevada 73-58 on Saturday night to tie the school record with its 20th straight win.
The Aztecs (21-1, 10-0 Mountain West) matched the 20-game win streak by the 2010-11 team, which won its first 20 games before losing at BYU. That team was the first in school history to reach the NCAA round of 16 after getting the program's first victories in the NCAA tournament. It finished 34-3, best in team history. The current Aztecs are the first to open league play 10-0.
SDSU was coming off a 67-65 win at Boise State in which it erased a 14-point deficit before winning on a 3-point shot by Dwayne Polee II with four seconds left.
The Aztecs' only loss was a 69-60 home defeat to then-No. 6 Arizona on Nov. 14.
Jerry Evans Jr. scored 17 points and Deonte Burton and Cole Huff had 11 each for Nevada (12-12, 7-4).
After taking control late in the first half, San Diego State pulled away in the second half. The Aztecs went on a 7-0 run to go up 55-41 with 10:57 left. Aqeel Quinn hit a 3-pointer, JJ O'Brien made two free throws after he was fouled hard by Burton and Dwayne Polee had a steal and a layup.
After Nevada's Michael Perez made a 3-pointer, Winston Shepard took a pass from Matt Shrigley for a baseline dunk and then made a layup for a 59-44 lead.
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The Wolf Pack closed to 61-52 on a layup and 3-pointer by Evans before the Aztecs quickly pushed the lead back to 15. Josh Davis had a layup, Shepard a bank shot and Davis a steal and a slam dunk.
The Aztecs closed the first half on a 7-0 run -- including two free throws and a layup by Josh Davis -- for a 37-31 lead. It would have been a 9-0 run by Dwayne Polee missed an easy layup with three seconds left.
Shepard made two straight shots for a 30-26 lead before the Wolf Pack went up 31-30 on Ronnie Stevens' shot off a rebound and AJ West's three-point play.
