Jaedon LeDee had 27 points — 21 in the second half — and 11 rebounds for No. 20 San Diego State, which held off last-place San Jose State 72-64 on Tuesday night to keep pace in the tight Mountain West Conference race.
The defending regular-season and MWC Tournament champion Aztecs (22-7, 11-5) beat the Spartans for the 13th straight time to remain just behind conference co-leaders Utah State and Boise State. The Aztecs get six days off before playing at UNLV next Tuesday night and then finishing the regular season at home against Boise State on March 8.
LeDee helped the Aztecs to a 52-35 lead midway through the second half before the Spartans clawed back to 57-52. He rebounded Micah Parrish’s missed 3-pointer and then had a steal and slam dunk as part of a three-point play to give SDSU a 62-54 advantage.
LeDee finished with his 11th double-double of the season.
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“He's a dangerous player and to his credit, everybody knows it, and he still ends up with another double-double," Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said. “That's a first-team All-American to me.”
Dutcher called it “a quiet 27” for LeDee.
“He did it however he could. He rebounded the ball and got some putbacks, he ran the floor, got some baskets, and he scored a lot of different ways, which good players do. It's not just one-dimensional scoring," the coach said.
Local
A 3-pointer by Alvaro Cardenas and a putback by Latrell Davis pulled the Spartans to 64-60 with 2:20 to go.
Elijah Saunders had 10 points for SDSU, including a huge dunk with 50 seconds left following a San Jose State turnover to give the Aztecs a 66-60 lead. They made six free throws in the final 31 seconds.
Myron Amey Jr. scored 17 points for San Jose State (9-20, 2-14), and Trey Anderson had 14.
LeDee, continually pounded inside by double teams, made a turnaround jumper and a bank shot in the opening minute of the second half, giving the Aztecs a 33-22 lead. He then scored five points during a 15-2 run that pushed it to 52-35.
“I'm getting used to it,” said LeDee, who drew 11 fouls and made nine of 11 free throws.
“We're going to get everyone's best shot,” he said. “Everybody gears up and gives us their best effort.”
BIG PICTURE
San Jose State: The Spartans haven't beaten San Diego State since February 2017 at home. Their only two MWC wins this season are against Air Force.
San Diego State: The Aztecs remained in The Associated Press Top 25 for a second straight week, dropping just one spot after a week in which they lost 68-63 at Utah State and won 73-41 at Fresno State.
UP NEXT
San Jose State is at UNLV on Saturday night.
SDSU visits UNLV next Tuesday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
