FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Isaiah Stevens and Nique Clifford each scored 20 points as Colorado State knocked off San Diego State 79-71 at Moby Arena on Tuesday evening.
After trailing by as many as 14 points, San Diego State came all the way back to take the lead at 61-60 with seven minutes and change remaining in the game. However, Colorado State came back with a 19-10 run to close out an eight point win.
"We have to execute. They executed," said SDSU Head Coach Brian Dutcher following the defeat. "They did enough to win and 15 turnovers is too many after two last game. They had 10. They shot 54 percent. They're a good team. I mean, this was a ranked team a week ago, on their home court."
Clifford added ten rebounds for the Rams (16-5, 4-4 Mountain West Conference). Stevens tacked on six rebounds to lead CSU. Joel Scott (15 points) and Isaiah Strong (10 points) also finished in double figures for Colorado State.
The Aztecs (16-5, 5-3) were led by Reese Waters, who scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting while making all three of his three point attempts. Lamont Butler added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists just a game after matching a career-high with 23 points. Jaedon LeDee posted 13 points and seven rebounds to continue his streak of ten or more points in every game this season. LeDee's first basket of the night made him a member of the 1,000 point club, with 708 of those points coming over his past two seasons in the Scarlet and Black.
SDSU outshot Colorado State from beyond the arc (43.5 percent-33.3 percent) and the free throw line (100.0 percent-72.7 percent) but the Rams were better from the field (53.8 percent-45.0 percent). San Diego State had three more rebounds (31-28).
San Diego State returns to Viejas Arena to play No. 17-ranked Utah State on Saturday, February 3 at 12:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FOX and San Diego Sports 760.