In a first half that saw minimal scoring between SDSU and Houston, the second half saw much more action, including an extra period where the Aztecs came away with a 73-70 victory in overtime.
The Aztecs were down by as many as 11 in the second half, but SDSU really picked up steam towards the final 10 minutes of regulation, highlighted by great shooting from Nick Boyd who hit back-to-back threes to pull the Aztecs within two.
Houston was able to maintain a small lead until there was less than a minute to play, but a Jared Coleman-Jones bank-in basket and two free throws tied the game up at 65 apiece, which led to overtime.
The extra period saw the Aztecs outscore the Cougars 8-5, and the highlight of overtime may have been the acrobatic layup from Myles Byrd to put SDSU up by three, a lead they would maintain until the final buzzer.
Houston missed a three to tie the game with just a few seconds left.
Aztecs assistant coach JayDee Luster spoke following the game on how important the second-half adjustments were for his team.
“We told our guys those first five, six minutes was critical,” Luster said. “You got to come out and you got to be ready to fight those first five, six minutes and you can’t relax.”
Luster mentioned the respect they have for the Houston program and their head coach Kelvin Sampson, and how they model themselves after a program like that.
“This is a great learning experience for us,” Luster said. “Whenever you’re in a fight, you’re going to get hit. You can’t go into a fight and not expect to get punched.”
The Aztecs took the punches and ran to victory, as they had four players score in double figures. Luster mentioned how even though this was a big win, they can’t stay focused on it forever.
“We got to enjoy this for 24 hours, then we got to move on because it’s conference play,” Luster said.
The Aztecs play in their first conference game on Wednesday, when they travel to face Fresno State. The game is scheduled for 7:30 PST and will be broadcasted on FS1.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
