San Diego State Aztecs at Gonzaga Bulldogs

San Diego State uses big games from Waters, LeDee to topple No. 13 Gonzaga 84-74

The Aztecs (11-2) won their fourth straight and dominated long stretches late in the first half and early in the second half to take the nonconference matchup between two of the better programs on the West Coast.

“We're definitely happy. We came into a hostile environment, a team that's really good, ranked high and we came out and did what we were supposed to do,” Waters said. “I think we're a really good team. We had two losses unfortunately but I don't think that defines who we are as a team.”

San Diego State handed Gonzaga (9-4) its first nonconference loss on its home floor since falling to UCLA on Dec. 12, 2015. It was just the third home loss overall for the Zags since the start of the 2017 season and their first double-digit home loss since falling to Illinois 85-74 in December 2012.

“I thought we fought and hung in there and battled and played with great spirit, but we didn't play smart enough during this whole game,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “They deserve a lot of credit to come on the road and they played great.”

After reaching the national title game last season, the Aztecs played a difficult nonconference schedule and lost road games at No. 14 BYU and at Grand Canyon. Winning at Gonzaga will likely be significant for San Diego State's NCAA tournament resume come March.

“We challenged ourselves. Most teams play a lot of these games at neutral sites and we decided we were going to go to Grand Canyon, we were going to go to BYU, we were going to go to Gonzaga and challenge ourselves,” San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher said.

Darrion Trammell added a season-high 17 points, including 15 in the first half and kept the Aztecs hanging around through some early struggles. But it was the end of the first half and start of the second half where the Aztecs took control and built a big enough lead to withstand Gonzaga’s late rally.

The Aztecs closed the first half on an 11-2 run to take a 38-37 lead at the break, then used an 18-3 run early in the second half to take a 62-47 lead with 13:25 left after Miles Byrd’s fastbreak layup.

Graham Ike led Gonzaga with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Anton Watson added 16 points and Ryan Nembhard scored 15 points. The Bulldogs trimmed the 15-point deficit to 71-67 after Nembhard’s baseline jumper with 5:43 left.

But Byrd answered with a 3-pointer from the corner and LeDee scored on the fastbreak to quickly push the Aztecs advantage back to nine.

“I thought we played tough. ... We found a way to continue to concentrate still get stops and make enough plays to get a win here,” Dutcher said.

BIG PICTURE

San Diego State: Waters missed a free throw in the final minute of the game. It was his first miss of the season after making his first 43 attempts. The Aztecs were 12 of 16 at the free throw line.

Gonzaga: The Zags 3-point shooting continues to be a problem. Gonzaga was 5 of 19 on 3s and failed to shoot better than 30% from the behind the 3-point line for the fifth straight game.

UP NEXT

San Diego State: The Aztecs open Mountain West play hosting Fresno State next Wednesday.

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs open WCC play facing Pepperdine next Thursday across town at the Spokane Arena.

How can I watch San Diego State vs. Gonzaga?

• TV Channel: San Diego State at Gonzaga 2021 College Basketball, week 8, is broadcasted on ESPN2.
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