basketball

Aztecs Bounce Back By Blasting Boise St.

SDSU drops the Broncos back into 2nd place with blowout win

Last season Boise St. won all three meetings against San Diego State. This year the Aztecs seem eager to return the "favor."

They played again Friday night at Viejas Arena, tied for first place in the conference. For one game, at least, there was no doubt who the best in the (Mountain) West is. SDSU raced out to an early lead (it was 43-21 at halftime) and never let up in a 72-52 dismantling of the Broncos on Montezuma Mesa.

The Aztecs only shot 4-for-18 from 3-point range and Adam Seiko made three of those. But, they still made better than 50% of their shots for the game with a dominant performance from a pair of veterans and more of their trademark tough defense. Seniors Nathan Mensah and Keshad Johnson combined to make all nine shots they took, not a single one of them from beyond the arc. Together they rang up 27 points and helped to outrebound the Broncos 36-28.

The caveat for this game is BSU did not have guard Marcus Shaver, one of the best ball handlers in the league, who was out with an ankle injury. Without him they only hit 11% of their shots from 3-point range and not many of the looks they did get came without being contested by an Aztecs defender.

By the end of the game head coach Brian Dutcher was emptying his bench. 14 players got on the floor and 10 of them scored.

SDSU takes back a 1-game lead in the MWC with seven regular season games left and gets a long weekend to prepare for another trip to altitude to face Utah State. They'll see these Broncos again on the last day of February in Boise in a game that might decide the regular season conference champion.

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