No. 13 SDSU cruises past Fresno State
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fresno, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Aqeel Quinn connected on four 3-pointers en route to 17 points off the bench, as No. 13 San Diego State sailed past Fresno State, 82-67, on Saturday at Save Mart Center.
Xavier Thames tallied a team-high 22 points with six rebounds, while Winston Shepard supplied 13 points for the Aztecs (25-3, 14-2 MWC), who have won two straight since a 58-44 loss to New Mexico on Feb. 22.
San Diego State sits one-half game ahead of New Mexico atop the conference standings and will wrap up the regular season with a road test against the Lobos next Saturday after hosting UNLV on Wednesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is the way you have to play if you want to win a conference championship," SDSU head coach Steve Fisher said. "We have to keep digging and say this is the way we want to play when we go to Vegas on Wednesday. It feels good today."
Tyler Johnson led Fresno State (15-15, 8-9) with 18 points, while Marvelle Harris added 17 points and six boards for the Bulldogs, who had won seven of their last eight games coming into the contest.
Johnson's 3-pointer found Fresno State holding a 13-12 lead just over 8 1/2 minutes in, but Quinn countered with a triple at the other end to spark a 9-2 swing from San Diego State.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SDSU held Fresno State at arm's length throughout the remainder of the half, as Thames scored his team's final seven points of the frame to help the Aztecs take a 40-35 lead into the locker room.
"For a better part of the first half, we did just enough to be right where we needed to be, with the exception of closing out the half," Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry said.
San Diego State then opened the second on a 7-2 swing, capped by five straight from Shepard, to build a 10-point lead less than two minutes into the half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Quinn 3-pointer with 10:48 to play pushed the spread to 64-48 and the visitors failed to threaten from there, never getting closer than 15 points the rest of the way as the Aztecs cruised to victory down the stretch.
Game Notes
SDSU leads the all-time series, 58-45 ... San Diego State has won 115 straight games when leading with five minutes left in the second half ... SDSU shot 60 percent from the floor (27-of-45), including 9-of-15 from 3-point range ... Alex Davis added 12 points for Fresno State ... San Diego State has won 41 straight games against teams from California.