Wetzell leads San Diego State over Nevada to remain undefeated
SAN DIEGO (AP) Yanni Wetzell had 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for No. 7 San Diego State, which came out hot in the second half to beat Nevada 68-55 Saturday night and remain the nation’s only undefeated team.
Malachi Flynn scored 14 points for San Diego State (19-0, 8-0 Mountain West), and Jordan Schakel had 12. Matt Mitchell added 11 points.
The Aztecs pulled within one of the best opening streak in school history, a 20-0 run led by Kawhi Leonard in 2010-11. That team reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history and finished a school-best 34-3.
Auburn lost at Alabama on Wednesday night, leaving SDSU as the nation’s only undefeated team for the first time in school history. The Aztecs play again Tuesday night, hosting Wyoming.
Jalen Harris, the Mountain West's second-leading scorer, had 16 of his 19 points in the first half for Nevada (11-8, 4-3), which withered offensively in the second half. Jazz Johnson scored 13.
Nevada shot 14.7% in the second half and 28.1% for the game.
SDSU trailed 35-33 at halftime, but grabbed control in the opening minutes of the second half. Wetzell fed Schakel for a 3, Mitchell had a reverse layup and Flynn made a layup for a 40-35 lead, forcing coach Steve Alford to take a timeout and firing up the crowd at sold-out Viejas Arena.
Nevada tied it at 40 when Johnson made a layup and then hit a 3.
But SDSU quickly jumped to an eight-point lead on Mitchell's bucket off a rebound, a free throw by KJ Feagin, a corner 3 by Mitchell and a jumper by Wetzell, a New Zealander who is a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt.
SDSU shut down the Wolf Pack after that.
Nevada, the second-best 3-point shooting team in the MWC, went 7 for 13 from behind the arc in the first half. The Wolf Pack trailed by two when Zane Meeks and Harris made consecutive 3-pointers to make it 28-24 with 5:42 to go.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Aztecs could move into the top five for the first time since February 2014, when they were headed to the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history.
BIG PICTURE
Nevada: Alford, Nevada's first-year coach, remains two wins shy of 600 for his career. He also has coached at Missouri State, Iowa, New Mexico and UCLA.
San Diego State: The Aztecs were once again without Nathan Mensah, who has missed seven games with a respiratory ailment.
UP NEXT
Nevada hosts UNLV on Wednesday night.
San Diego State hosts Wyoming on Tuesday night.
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