National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
San Diego St. 74, San Jose St. 56
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 21, 2015
Where: San Jose State Event Center, San Jose, California
Officials: # David Hall, # Chris Rastatter, # Tom Spitznagel
Attendance: 3477

No. 25 San Diego State 74, San Jose State 56: Winston Shepard matched his season high with 20 points and JJ O’Brien added 15 as the visiting Aztecs dominated the second half against the struggling Spartans.

Trey Kell scored 12 points while Aqeel Quinn and Malik Pope added seven apiece for San Diego State (22-6, 12-3 Mountain West), which shot 59.6 percent and handed the Spartans their 16th straight loss. Dwayne Polee II scored three points in his first action since collapsing on the court during a game against UC Riverside on Dec. 22.

Rashad Muhammad paced San Jose State (2-24, 0-14) with a season-high 27 points and freshman Darryl Gaynor II added 23, but committed seven turnovers. Jaleel Williams (six points) was the only other player to score for the shorthanded Spartans, who were outscored 39-20 and held to eight field goals in the second half.

San Jose State shot 52.4 percent in the opening period and took a 36-35 lead into the break on Muhammad’s 3-pointer from half court at the buzzer. The Aztecs, who came in ranked third nationally in scoring defense at 53.4 points per game, turned up the pressure after intermission and used a 13-0 run to move ahead 48-39 with just over 13 minutes left.

The Aztecs forced 21 turnovers and won their fourth straight despite shooting 15-of-28 from the foul line. San Jose State opened the game by making seven of its first nine shots and led 19-12 following Gaynor’s 3-pointer with just over 12 minutes left in the first half, but the Aztecs answered with a 13-3 run to pull ahead 25-22.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Muhammad and Gaynor combined to shoot 9-of-17 from 3-point range for the Spartans, who fell to 9-48 overall and 1-31 in league play since the start of the 2013-14 season. … San Diego State has won 141 straight games when leading with five minutes to play. … Williams fouled out with 3:14 remaining for San Jose State, whose last win over a Division I opponent came against Nevada on Feb. 18, 2014.
Top Game Performances
 
San Diego St.   San Jose St.
Winston Shepard 20 Scoring Rashad Muhammad 27
Malik Pope 3 Assists Darryl Gaynor II 4
J.J. O'Brien 6 Rebounds Brandon Mitchell 5
Winston Shepard 7 Free Throws Made Rashad Muhammad 6
J.J. O'Brien 4 Steals Isaac Thornton 3
Angelo Chol 1 Blocks Isaac Thornton 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
San Diego St. 74 59.6 3-10 15-28 14 28 1 9 12
San Jose St. 56 44.2 11-23 7-9 6 22 1 5 21
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