National Basketball Association
San Diego St. 63, Utah St. 61
When: 10:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Where: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, Logan, Utah
Officials:
# Nate Harris, # John Higgins, # Mike Reed
Attendance:
8765
By Field Level Media
Matt Bradley had 18 points and three steals as No. 25 San Diego State held on for a 63-61 win over Utah State in a Mountain West Conference game on Wednesday in Logan, Utah.
Jaedon LeDee had 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Micah Parrish contributed 12 points in a reserve role for the Aztecs (19-5, 10-2 MWC), who stretched their lead to one game over second-place Nevada in the conference standings.
Steven Ashworth had 18 points and six assists while Taylor Funk had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Aggies (19-6, 8-4), who could have moved into a tie for first with a victory.
Utah State, which came into the day as the top 3-point shooting team in the nation at 41.8 percent, shot 5 of 19 (26.3 percent) from beyond the arc for the game.
The Aggies trailed by 16 points at the half and by 10 with five minutes left.
Funk scored on a fastbreak to make it 62-59 with 1:52 to go, and Dan Akin continued the 9-0 run with two free throws with a minute remaining to make it a one-point game.
Bradley missed on a drive with 24 seconds left and LeDee couldn't convert the tip, but Utah State's Max Shulga missed a jumper with four seconds to go. San Diego State's Keshad Johnson grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws with 1.8 seconds left.
The Aztecs were leading 27-17 with 6:49 remaining in the half when a scuffle broke out as the teams headed to their benches for a timeout.
San Diego State point guard and second-leading scorer Darrion Trammell was ejected for leaving the bench, as were two walk-on players and an assistant coach for Utah State.
The Aggies quickly cut the deficit to six, but the Aztecs eventually took a 44-28 lead into the break.
The Aggies scored the first six points of the second half to slice their deficit to single digits, and an 8-0 run pulled them within 56-51 with 10:30 left after a layup by Sean Bairstow.
Utah State didn't make another field goal until Ashworth rolled in a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 62-55 with 4:41 to play.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
San Diego St. |
|
Utah St. |
Matt Bradley 18 |
Scoring |
Steven Ashworth 18 |
Lamont Butler 5 |
Assists |
Steven Ashworth 6 |
Jaedon Ledee 10 |
Rebounds |
Taylor Funk 9 |
Jaedon Ledee 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Steven Ashworth 6 |
Matt Bradley 3 |
Steals |
Taylor Funk 2 |
Nathan Mensah 3 |
Blocks |
Taylor Funk 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
San Diego St.
|
63 |
39.7 |
5-17 |
8-13 |
11 |
37 |
4 |
6 |
13 |
Utah St.
|
61 |
38.5 |
5-19 |
16-22 |
12 |
30 |
6 |
7 |
10 |