Matt Mitchell finished with 19 points to help San Diego State repeat as Mountain West Conference regular-season champs following a 71-62 victory over UNLV on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
The No. 19 Aztecs (20-4, 14-3 MWC) won their 11th consecutive game. They have captured back-to-back outright regular-season league titles for the first time since joining Division I in 1970-71.
David Jenkins Jr. had a stellar game from the outset, scoring the first nine points of the game for UNLV (11-13, 8-9) and finishing with a game-high 32 points on 11-of-23 shooting. UNLV fell for the second time in three games.
San Diego State knew to be on guard for the Runnin' Rebels, who last season snapped the Aztecs' 26-game winning streak to open the season.
UNLV pulled to within eight points with 8:50 left on a Nicquel Blake layup. But after Jordan Schakel hit a 3-pointer for the Aztecs, Nathan Mensah scored six consecutive points for a 9-0 run that put San Diego State ahead by 17.
Schakel finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Mensah totaled 14 points and six rebounds. Trey Pulliam finished with eight assists and helped on the defensive end, and Adam Seiko scored added eight points off the bench for San Diego State.
UNLV shot 39.1 percent from 3-point range with Jenkins making 7 of 14. However, the Rebels had only nine free-throw attempts, making seven.
Meanwhile, San Diego State was aggressive at the rim and in transition, going to the line 26 times and making 22. Mitchell hit 7 of 9 and Mensah went 6 of 6.
--Field Level Media
San Diego St. | UNLV | |
Matt Mitchell 19 | Scoring | David Jenkins Jr. 32 |
Trey Pulliam 8 | Assists | Nicquel Blake 3 |
Jordan Schakel 9 | Rebounds | Caleb Grill 7 |
Matt Mitchell 7 | Free Throws Made | Bryce Hamilton 3 |
Matt Mitchell 2 | Steals | Devin Tillis 3 |
Nathan Mensah 1 | Blocks | Moses Wood 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
San Diego St. | 71 | 36.4 | 9-24 | 22-26 | 14 | 33 | 1 | 8 | 10 |
UNLV | 62 | 39.0 | 9-23 | 7-9 | 11 | 32 | 6 | 4 | 12 |