SAN DIEGO — There’s nothing quite like San Diego State’s home-court advantage, at least in the Mountain West.
With Winston Shepard and JJ O’Brien leading the way, the Aztecs won at home for the second time in four nights, beating Colorado State 72-63 on Saturday to take a one-game lead in the Mountain West and clinch their 10th straight 20-win season under coach Steve Fisher.
O’Brien scored 11 of his 18 points during an 18-6 run late in the first half, Winston Shepard had 19 points and 11 rebounds despite dislocating his left pinkie in the first half, and Skylar Spencer led a strong defensive effort with six blocked shots, tying his career-high. Spencer also had nine points and six rebounds.
The Aztecs (20-6, 10-3 Mountain West) opened a one-game lead in the conference and avenged a 79-73 loss at CSU three weeks ago.
“This was a wonderful team victory, and I’m going to underline team,” Fisher said. “To a man, we played smart, played with great energy and played together. When we do that we’ve got a chance to play with anybody.”
SDSU has won 29 straight at Viejas Arena.
“We’re good anywhere. We’re really good at home,” Fisher said.
Victories against Wyoming on Wednesday night and then against CSU were critical for SDSU’s conference championship aspirations, especially since they were coming off an ugly 15-point loss at Boise State on Sunday.
J.J. Avila scored 24 for CSU (21-5, 8-5), which dropped to fourth in the Mountain West race, two games behind the Aztecs.
“You can’t expect to beat a team that has won their 29th game in a row on this court by shooting 19 3-point shots,” Rams coach Larry Eustachy said. “But I thought we competed.”
