Courtesy of San Diego State Athletics

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Jaedon LeDee had 31 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 19 San Diego State held off San Jose State 81-78 on Tuesday night for its seventh straight win.

LeDee, the Mountain West’s leading scorer at 21.4 points per game, has scored at least 20 in four straight games. He scored at least 30 points with at least ten rebounds for the second time this season, joining Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson as the only players to accomplish the feat in 2023-24. It was only the eighth time an Aztec has reached those totals in a game since 1996-97 and Jamaal Franklin was the only other to do so twice in that time span.

Jay Pal scored 10 points to go with nine rebounds, his most since joining SDSU and blocked a potential tying layup by Trey Anderson with three seconds remaining to secure the victory for San Diego State.

Lamont Butler added 16 points and Micah Parrish had 13 for the Aztecs (14-2, 3-0 Mountain West).

Alvaro Cardenas led the Spartans (7-9, 0-3) with 21 points and six assists, but San Jose State lost its third in a row.

San Jose State forced a shot clock violation with 13.6 seconds remaining to get the ball trailing 80-78. Cardenas found Anderson inside, but Pal swatted away his layup attempt and Butler recovered the loose ball for the Aztecs.

Butler was fouled and made one of two free throws. Diogo Seixas attempted a full-court heave for the tie but missed wide left.

San Diego State won the rebound battle 37-28 and outscored San Jose State 38-24 in the paint.

The game featured 15 lead changes and 14 ties.

The Aztecs have won 12 in a row against the Spartans and 18 of 19 since San Jose State joined the Mountain West in 2013. San Diego State improved to 34-4 against teams from Northern California since 2010-11.

The Aztecs kept a couple of streaks alive. They’ve won 19 straight games when leading at halftime and 19 in a row when leading with five minutes remaining. San Diego State led 42-41 at the half and 70-67 with five minutes left.

Next up for the Scarlet and Black is a key road game at New Mexico, which is scheduled for noon MT (11 a.m. PT) on Saturday, January 13. The last time that the teams faced off, February 25, 2023, Butler hit a buzzer beater to win the game for SDSU. That game will be broadcast on CBS and San Diego Sports 760.