NO. 10 SAN DIEGO STATE 63, UNLV 52 Thames spurs Aztec win
SDSU leads from start to finish to beat Runnin’ Rebels
SAN DIEGO — Xavier Thames scored 18 points for No. 10 San Diego State, which used a 19-2 first-half run to beat UNLV 63-52 on Saturday for its 15th straight victory.
Josh Davis added 14 points and 14 rebounds for SDSU (16-1, 5-0 Mountain West), which hasn’t lost since its second game, a 69-60 home defeat against Arizona, which is ranked No. 1.
Bryce Dejean-Jones scored 15 points, Deville Smith had 13 and Roscoe Smith 11 for UNLV (11-7, 2-3), which had won eight of its previous 10 games, including a 76-73 win over New Mexico on Wednesday at the Pit.
SDSU led 34-20 at halftime and was up by 10 midway through the second half before UNLV closed to 50-45 when Deville Smith scored on a spin move. The Aztecs responded with one free throw apiece by Winston Shepard and Josh Davis, and a slam dunk by JJ O’Brien to make it 54-45 with 4:02 to go.
Davis and O’Brien each made big shots down the stretch to help the Aztecs stay in front, and Thames made four free throws in the final 1:03.
The Runnin’ Rebels scored six straight points in the second half to close to 44-38, but the Aztecs then had consecutive alley-oops from Skylar Spencer and Davis to retake a 10-point lead and fire up the crowd at Viejas Arena.
After a ragged start by both teams, SDSU ripped off its big run to take a 28-11 lead with just more than three minutes left in the first half.
Aqeel Quinn scored five straight points on a layup and a 3-pointer and Thames had a jumper to cap a 13-point burst by the Aztecs.
UNLV responded by scoring seven straight points, including consecutive buckets by Dejean-Jones — one of them a slam dunk after a steal — and a 3-pointer by Kevin Olekaibe.
SDSU scored six of the final eight points, including Thames’ 3-pointer with 42 seconds left, to take a 34-20 halftime lead.