SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 10: Keshad Johnson #0 of the San Diego State Aztecs dunks the ball during the first half of a game against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Viejas Arena at San Diego State University on January 10, 2023 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
If you want to win a conference championship one thing you absolutely cannot do is drop games at home to teams you are obviously more talented than. San Diego State is obviously more talented than San Jose State, and made sure to drive that point home on Saturday night at Viejas Arena.
The Aztecs used their dominant defense to hold the Spartans to 14 points in the 1st half en route to a 72-51 win. At one point spanning the first and second halves San Jose State went 13:46 without making a field goal. It could have been a complete blowout but the Aztecs had an off shooting night themselves.
SDSU did not make a single 3-pointer in the 1st half but didn't need to because they were getting plenty of shots close to the basket. Forward Keshad Johnson scored 12 of his career-high 16 points in the opening 20 minutes, many of them on dunks and layups. In the 2nd half guard Matt Bradley started heating up, scoring seven points in two minutes (he finished with 14 points) to help push the lead to 46-19.
San Jose State finally started getting some shots to drop and at one point made things a little uncomfortable, cutting the lead to 11 points. But, but the deficit was far too much to overcome and one sequence towards the end of the game encapsulated the evening:
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Jaedon LeDee missed a jumper in the paint and ended up on his back. He was able to get up and corral the rebound in between four Spartans (again, LeDee had literally fallen over) to reset the offense, then was rewarded with a nice pass from Lamont Butler for a rebound and a foul.
The Aztecs improve to 8-1 in the Mountain West and 17-4 overall, maintaining their one game conference lead over Boise State. SDSU heads to Nevada on Tuesday then gets their first look at BSU on Friday night on Montezuma Mesa.
