San Diego State bounced back from a subpar effort against Wyoming by dominating Utah State Saturday, 79-59.
The Aztecs never trailed and were led by a balanced scoring attack.
Devin Watson led SDSU with 15 points but he had lots of help.
Sharpshooter Max Montana scored 14 off the bench and senior Malik Pope and redshirt freshman Jalen McDaniels each chipped in with 13 points.
The Aztecs dominated in the paint, outscoring the visitors 38-18 close to the basket.
SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher was happy with what he saw from his squad.
“Good bounce back game for the Aztecs, getting over the disappointment from the Wyoming game,” said Dutcher. “I told the kids, life is 10% about what happens and 90% how you deal with it.
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We had two good days of practice and we looked like it today when we played—we got better at both ends of the floor defensively, and were finally able to contain a team that drives a ball which has been an issue for us all year,” continued Dutcher. “We closed out well, kept them in front of us and did a really good job defensively.
“Offensively, I think we are making progress, we are trying to get paint touches whether it is a post-touch for Malik (Pope), Kam (Rooks), or Jalen (McDaniels) or penetration into the paint where we kick it to other people.
I think the more we continue to play for each other, the better this team will get.”
SDSU improved to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
