Jaedon LeDee had 27 points and 11 rebounds and No. 20 San Diego State held off visiting San Jose State for a 72-64 win in Mountain West Conference action on Tuesday night.
Elijah Saunders was the other scorer in double figures with 10 points off the bench for the Aztecs (22-7, 11-5 Mountain West), who extended their home winning streak to 20 games and stayed a half-game behind No. 22 Utah State and Boise State for first place in the conference.
Myron Amey Jr. had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Trey Anderson scored 14 points and Latrell Davis contributed 13 points off the bench for San Jose State (9-20, 2-14), which cut a 17-point deficit to five with 5:21 to go but couldn’t get any closer than four down the stretch.
The Spartans’ Alvaro Cardenas sank a 3-pointer to make it 62-58 San Diego State with 3:19 remaining, and Davis later had a putback to keep it a four-point deficit. The Spartans had two possessions to get closer but missed a 3 on the first and stepped out of bounds on the second.
The Aztecs sealed the win by going 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 30 seconds.
San Jose State led 8-5 at the first media timeout with 15:32 left in the first half, and it held a 15-10 advantage at the midway point of the period.
Amey picked up his second foul with 10:39 left, and the Aztecs kept the Spartans scoreless for 4:13 while going on a 9-0 run that moved them ahead, 19-15, with 6:23 remaining.
San Jose State didn’t fade away, however, even regaining the lead at 20-19 on a 3-pointer by Cardenas, but San Diego State finished the half on a 10-2 run to take a 29-22 lead into the break.
The Aztecs scored the first four points of the second half to extend the lead into double digits for the first time at 33-22.
San Diego State didn’t hold the double-digit edge for long, but the Aztecs also prevented San Jose State from getting any closer than four before a 9-0 run extended the lead back into double figures.
Two free throws from LeDee pushed the lead back to 11 with 13:25 left, and Miles Byrd capped the run with an up-and-under layup to make it 46-33.
–Field Level Media
