SAN DIEGO (AP) — Matt Bradley scored 17 points and Lamont Butler added 15 for No. 23 San Diego State, which beat Nevada 74-65 Tuesday night to take sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference.
The Aztecs (13-3, 4-0 MWC) dominated on both ends of Steve Fisher Court in a showdown between the last two undefeated teams in the conference to extend their winning streak to six games. Keshad Johnson added 11 points for SDSU, which has beaten Nevada nine straight times.
Nick Davidson scored 17, Kenan Blackshear 12 and Jarod Lucas 11 for Nevada (14-4, 4-1), whose six-game winning streak was snapped.
SDSU led 65-43 with 9:10 left before getting sloppy in the closing minutes and allowing the Wolf Pack to close to single digits.
The Aztecs marked their return to The AP Top 25 by dominating from the opening minute. Keshad Johnson had a steal and scored on an alley-oop slam dunk on a pass from Lamont Butler. Johnson and Butler hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Aztecs a 10-0 lead and force Wolf Pack coach Steve Alford to take a timeout.
Johnson had a steal and slam dunk for a 42-23 lead late in the first half. It was 44-27 at halftime.
SDSU shot 50% while holding Nevada to 39.7%. The Aztecs outrebounded Nevada 33-29 and made 8 of 21 3-pointers.
BIG PICTURE
Nevada: The Wolf Pack committed three early turnovers in falling behind 10-0 and never recovered. They had six turnovers total in the first half and, although they enjoyed a height advantage, were outrebounded 19-13.
San Diego State: The Aztecs improved to 11-0 at home against Nevada in the MWC era and to 13-1 all-time at home against the Wolf Pack.
UP NEXT
Nevada hosts Utah State on Friday night.
San Diego State hosts New Mexico on Saturday night.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
