Quinn leads San Diego State to 58-47 win vs Fresno State

SAN DIEGO (AP) It was a good night on both ends of the court for San Diego State.

Aqeel Quinn, playing with a lower back injury, scored 16 points to lead four players in double figures and the Aztecs played tight defense in a 58-47 victory against Fresno State.

JJ O'Brien scored 12 points, Winston Shepard had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Angelo Chol had 10 points.

The Aztecs (16-5, 6-2 Mountain West) avenged a 59-57 loss at Fresno on Jan. 3 that snapped a streak of 47 straight victories against California teams. They also bounced back from a 79-73 loss at Colorado State on Saturday.

''Tonight was fun,'' coach Steve Fisher said. ''It was a good win, an opportunity for us to get back at a team that beat us.''

It was the first time SDSU had four players in double figures since a 92-87, double-overtime victory against BYU in the Maui Invitational.

''We haven't scored a lot of points in some games, so it's hard to score in double figures if you don't score may points,'' Fisher said. ''And 58 points and four guys in double figures - that's hard to do, also. We do a pretty good job of sharing the ball.''

Chol, a reserve big man, had six points during a 7-0 run that extended SDSU's lead to 43-26 with 12:14 to go. Chol made a bank shot, a slam dunk and a jumper.

Marvelle Harris scored 13 for Fresno State (10-11, 5-3). Harris, tied for second in the MWC at 17.9 points per game, injured a knee midway through the second half but later returned. Paul Watson scored 10 points.

The Bulldogs had won five of six coming in.

''They're a good defensive team. A really good defensive team,'' Fresno State coach Rodney Terry said.

''This was a good team victory, and I'll underline team, spearheaded by how we guarded and rebounded,'' Fisher said. ''I thought we were very good on both ends rebounding, which is closure for your defense, and gave us a lot of opportunities offensively.

''We did a much better job as opposed to Jan. 3, there, guarding, guarding without fouling, guarding and making them feel our presence to where they didn't have the option to pull back and shoot threes.''

SDSU outrebounded Fresno State 40-28, but also had more turnovers, 17-14.

SDSU went on an 11-0 run in the final four minutes of the first half to take a 30-19 lead. O'Brien stated the run with a 3-pointer and a layup, and Quinn finished it with a 3-pointer.

Harris made all three free throws after he was fouled by Malik Pope while taking a shot from behind the arc with 7.6 seconds left. Quinn made two free throws with two seconds left to set the halftime score at 32-22.

TIPS-INS

Fresno State: The Bulldogs haven't won at San Diego State since a 95-84 victory on Feb. 25, 1999, the season before Steve Fisher took over as coach of the Aztecs.

San Diego State: The Aztecs have won 15 straight games following a loss.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL

The Mountain West race is lining up to be too close to call yet. San Diego State's win keeps them tied with Wyoming -which lost at Utah State - at the top of the conference at 6-2. Colorado State is a half-game back at 5-2, and four teams - including Fresno State - have three conference losses.

UP NEXT

Fresno State is at Colorado State on Saturday.

San Diego State hosts Utah State on Saturday.