Nick Boyd leads San Diego State to comeback victory over San Jose State: 3 takeaways
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San Diego State men's basketball erased a halftime deficit on Tuesday night, escaping the Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose with a 69-66 victory over San Jose State.
The Aztecs (16-6, 9-4) made life difficult for themselves once again, going into the halftime break with a 37-20 deficit. San Diego State quickly recovered, tying the game in less than four minutes and made enough plays down the stretch to get their second win over San Jose State (12-14, 5-9) in two weeks.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
SAN DIEGO STATE FLIPS THE SWITCH
After a first half that featured 11 turnovers and 0-13 shooting from three-point range, San Diego State wasted no time in repairing the damage done from a subpar first 20 minutes. The Aztecs went on a 17-0 run in less than four minutes to tie the game at the first media timeout of the second half, highlighted by seven points from senior guard Nick Boyd.
“I told them they couldn’t give up, couldn’t give in and I’ll find something offensively that would work,” head coach Brian Dutcher told CBS Sports analyst Darren Collison after the game.
From that point on, the two teams went back and forth with neither leading by more than five points over the final 16 minutes of the game. The Aztecs outrebounded the Spartans by seven and despite making seven fewer three-pointers, San Diego State stepped up at the free throw line. The Aztecs were 17-22 at the charity stripe including 9-11 in the second half while San Jose State left points at the line, finishing 3-10 on the night.
NICK BOYD CONTROLS THE SECOND HALF
Senior point guard Nick Boyd, a transfer from Florida Atlantic who’s spending his fourth collegiate season with the Aztecs, was key in the second-half turnaround. He finished with 17 points on the night but did much of his work in the final 20 minutes.
“It’s easy on the players but hard on an old coach," Dutcher told Collison. "I’d like to be in the lead, but we’ve had 18-0 runs, 20-0 runs, 17-0 runs this year so I like the grit of my team."
Boyd scored seven points during the 17-0 run and finished the half with 14 points, four assists and three steals to keep the Aztecs in position for an NCAA Tournament bid.
ANOTHER SLOW START FOR THE AZTECS
San Diego State has made a habit of starting slow in recent weeks, often allowing lesser opponents to impose their way early in the games. For the second time in two weeks against San Jose State, the Aztecs found themselves trailing by double digits in the first half against a team ranked No. 169 in the NCAA Net Rankings. The Spartans closed the opening half on a 13-1 run, taking a 37-20 lead into the locker room.
Furthermore, San Jose State was without their two leading scorers on Tuesday night. Senior guard Josh Uduje, who averages 16 points per game, missed his first game of the year with elbow and back injuries. Junior guard Will McClendon, averaging 12 points per game in his first season after transferring in from UCLA, had started 24 games for the Spartans.
Stepping up for the Spartans were a pair of guards in Donavan Yap Jr. and Latrell Davis. The duo, who combined for 34 points during January’s matchup, led the way in the first half to give San Jose State a 17-point lead. Yap and Davis each had 11 points during the first half to fill the hole of not having Uduje and McClendon.
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-770033d1c5c4820fdbde4ecf2452e810.jpg "Bodie De Silva")
Bodie DeSilva has been covering sports in San Diego for more than a decade. He previously covered San Diego State athletics for Scout/Fox Sports.