Courtesy of San Diego State Athletics

LAS VEGAS – BJ Davis scored a career-high 18 points and Miles Byrd added 16 points as San Diego State men’s basketball knocked off No. 21/19 Creighton 71-53 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in the first game of the Players Era Festival on Tuesday.

The Aztecs (3-1) bounced back from last week’s defeat to No. 3/4 Gonzaga and earned their fourth win in their last five games against the Bluejays, all taking place on neutral courts.

San Diego State handed Creighton (4-2) its second consecutive loss after the Bluejays began the season with four straight wins. Creighton fell 74-63 to Nebraska last Friday.

SDSU dumped the ball inside in the first half, scoring 18 of 32 first-half points in the paint on its way to a 32-28 halftime lead. Davis had 10 points at halftime including the Aztecs’ only two three-pointers in the opening period to go with six rebounds. Creighton’s Pop Isaacs led the way for the Bluejays at halftime with 10 points while San Diego State held standout big Ryan Kalkbrenner to just one field goal and two rebounds in the first 20 minutes. The Aztecs had 6-0 and 9-0 runs in the first half to stay ahead of Creighton with Magoon Gwath hitting a floater as time expired in the first half to finish with the four-point halftime lead.

In the second half, the Aztecs had a three-point barrage to wash away the Bluejays. San Diego State shot 6-of-11 from the beyond the arc in the second half, outscoring Creighton 39-25 to close out the contest. Davis tacked on eight points while Byrd scored 12 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes. Isaacs and Kalkbrenner combined for 17 of the Bluejays’ 25 second-half points. San Diego State’s perimeter defense held strong with Creighton going 1-of-16 from deep in the second half.

Three Bluejays finished in double figures: Isaacs scored 18, Jackson McAndrew had a double double with a dozen points and 14 assists and Kalkbrenner scored 11. The other seven Creighton players combined for 12 points, all coming from Fredrick King (7) and Jamiya Neal (5).

San Diego State shot better from the field (48.4%-33.9%), from deep (47.1%-19.4%) and from the line (42.9%-38.5%). SDSU also outscored Creighton off turnovers (13-7) and on fast breaks (15-1). Each team had 40 rebounds while the Aztecs led in assists (13-12), steals (8-1) and blocks (9-7).

THE NOTE
Creighton falls to 3-10 (.231 winning percentage) against Mountain West teams since January 1, 2009, compared to a 362-184 (.663 winning percentage) overall record in that time. The Bluejays’ last regular season win against a Mountain West squad came on November 19, 2018, against Boise State. Creighton is 0-5 against the MW in the regular season since that game.

THE NOTE II
BJ Davis became the second Aztec 6’2” or shorter with at least 18 points and nine rebounds in a game since 1996-97. He joins Malachi Flynn, who had 24 points and nine rebounds against UNLV on February 22, 2020.

The Aztecs continue the Players Era Festival against the Oregon Ducks at 1 p.m. PT tomorrow. The game will be televised on Max with a radio broadcast on San Diego Sports 760.