What San Diego State’s BJ Davis said after loss at Utah State
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San Diego State (18-7, 11-5) led twice in the second half on Saturday night but were unable to close out Utah State on the road, losing 79-71.
After falling behind by four points with less than four minutes to play, Utah State (24-4, 14-3) responded with a 14-0 run to close out the game, continuing their home dominance. The Aggies (24-4, 14-3) have kept their hopes alive for a second straight Mountain West Conference regular season title despite two losses to New Mexico over their past 10 games.
San Diego State lost forward Magoon Gwath to a knee injury in the opening moments of Saturday’s game and soon fell behind 29-15 late in the first half. The Aztecs got reorganized and ended the half on an 11-4 run, cutting the halftime deficit to 33-26. They kept the momentum going in the second half, using an 8-0 run to briefly grab their first lead of the game.
Throughout the night, San Diego State was unable to contain Utah State senior guard Dexter Akanno, the Aggies’ third-leading scorer. He knocked down four of five three-point attempts during the first 20 minutes and stayed hot in the second half, finishing with a career-high 26 points on 9-12 shooting. Ian Martinez, Utah State’s leading scorer ended the night with 18 points, scoring 10 points during the late game 14-0 run.
Playing without their third-leading scorer in Magoon Gwath for the final 37 minutes of the night, San Diego State continued to battle back despite having to tweak their rotation. Point guard Nick Boyd continued his recent run by leading the Aztecs with 15 points. Sophomore BJ Davis scored 14 points before fouling out while Miles Byrd and Taj DeGourville each finished with eight points.
Here’s everything San Diego State sophomore BJ Davis said after the loss.
On the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum environment:
“It was definitely a high-intensity environment. The crowd showed up tonight. It was an aggressive and hostile crowd, and they fed them energy. It got loud here, so it got a little shaky for us with play calls. They did a good job with that.”
On how the team was able to get back in the game:
“We just kept stringing it together play by play. We were trying not to really think about the game too much, and just taking it one play at a time.”
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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.