Four players scored in double figures to help No. 24 San Diego State pull away in the second half for a 74-57 home win over cross-town rival San Diego on Saturday.
Florida Atlantic transfer Nick Boyd led the Aztecs (6-2) with 17 points, while Miles Byrd and Jared Coleman-Jones each added 13. Freshman Pharaoh Compton came off the bench to tally 12 points.
Bendji Pierre tallied 17 points in a reserve role for the Toreros (3-6), who struggled to make shots against San Diego State’s typically tough defense. San Diego hit just 30.9 percent of its attempts from the field, including a 6-of-32 performance from 3-point range, and committed 16 turnovers. Kjay Bradley Jr., who leads San Diego in scoring this season at 15.7 points per game, managed only seven points and committed eight turnovers.
The Toreros took a 35-33 lead with 18:40 left in the game via two foul shots from Deven Dahlke before the Aztecs began to take control. Byrd and Boyd hit layups on consecutive possessions to put them ahead for good.
Boyd canned a 3-pointer to cap an 11-2 run that made it 44-37 with 15:31 remaining. From there, the margin grew to as many as 18 points down the stretch as San Diego State went from making 37.1 percent of its field goals in the first half to 51.6 after halftime.
In the first meeting between the teams in five years, San Diego competed on mostly even terms in a first half dominated by defense. There were five ties in the first 7:52.
The Aztecs made the first serious run of the half with an 11-0 burst that Boyd finished by sinking two free throws at the 9:35 mark for a 20-11 lead. The margin reached 11 points with 5:37 left on two foul shots by Coleman-Jones.
However, the Toreros made their push in the final 4:47. They ripped off a 12-2 run to pull within a point on Pierre’s 3-pointer with 2:11 remaining and headed for intermission down 33-31 on Dahlke’s three-point play six seconds left in the first half.
–Field Level Media
