GAMEDAY Mens Basketball
San Diego State 72, Boise State 52
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO - Nathan Mensah scored 17 points as No. 22 San Diego State raced past Boise State 72-52 in a showdown of the Mountain West Conference's top two teams despite an off night by Aztecs' leading scorers Matt Bradley and Darrion Trammell.
Keshad Johnson added 10 for SDSU (18-5, 9-2), which regained sole possession of first place. Bradley came in leading the Aztecs at 13.2 points per game but didn't score until making a jumper with 9:16 to play, finishing with three points. Trammell came in averaging 11.1 and didn't score until making a shot earlier in the second half, finishing with four.
Max Rice scored 16 for Boise State (18-6, 8-3), which was without its leading ballhandler, point guard Marcus Shaver Jr., who was out with a high ankle sprain. Shaver had a walking boot on his right foot.
BSU beat SDSU three times last year, including in championship game of the conference tournament.
The Aztecs raced to a 43-21 halftime lead despite getting zero points from Bradley and Trammell. Mensah led the way with 12 points and Adam Seiko had nine.
Mensah had six points during a 14-0 run that carried the Aztecs to a 29-10 lead with 5:47 left before halftime. Seiko made two 3-pointers, including a 27-footer to cap the run. An SDSU team manager was whistled for a technical for putting his thumb and pinkie up to his ear near the scorer's table as if to say, "Dial up a 3," and BSU's Max Rice made both free throws.
The combination of SDSU's defense and the absence of Shaver was too much for the Broncos. BSU shot only 33.3% in the first half and was called for a 10-second violation late in the first half. The Aztecs blocked three shots in the first 20 minutes, two by Aguek Arop and one by Mensah.
Mensah blocked a shot with three minutes left that set up a slam dunk by Johnson on an alley-oop pass from Seiko for a 70-50 lead.
BSU shot only 36.5% from the field, while SDSU shot 51%.
BIG PICTURE
Boise State: The Broncos clearly missed Shaver, who besides being third on the team in scoring at 13.2 points was leading the Broncos with 6.3 rebounds and had a team-high 79 assists.
San Diego State: It'll be touch-and-go whether the Aztecs remain in the AP Top 25. After popping back into the poll on Monday, the Aztecs lost 75-66 at Nevada on Tuesday night.
February 3, 2023
| Boise State | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| N. Smith | F | 30 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| T. Degenhart | F | 27 | 4-10 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 2-4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| M. Rice | G | 35 | 7-15 | 2-2 | 0-5 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| C. Agbo | G | 29 | 2-7 | 5-5 | 0-3 | 2-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| J. Whiting | G | 16 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Kuzmanovic | 26 | 2-7 | 3-6 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| K. Young | 12 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1-4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| M. Sylla | 11 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| L. Milner | 9 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| S. NgaNga | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| B. Smith | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 198 | 19-52 (.365) |
12-19 (.632) |
2-18 (.111) |
7-28 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 21 | 52 | |
| San Diego State | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| N. Mensah | F | 25 | 4-4 | 9-12 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| K. Johnson | F | 23 | 5-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| D. Trammell | G | 26 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| M. Bradley | G | 25 | 1-6 | 1-2 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| L. Butler | G | 24 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| M. Parrish | 23 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| A. Seiko | 19 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| J. LeDee | 16 | 2-5 | 5-6 | 0-1 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| A. Arop | 13 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| C. Alger | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| J. Barnett | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| T. Broughton | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D. Johnson Jr. | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| E. Saunders | 1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Totals | 199 | 26-51 (.510) |
16-23 (.696) |
4-18 (.222) |
5-36 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 72 | |
