Courtesy of San Diego State Athletics

LAS VEGAS – San Diego State men’s basketball surged down the stretch to force overtime as it knocked off No. 6/7 Houston 73-70 in the third-place game of the Players Era Festival at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday. Miles Byrd’s 18 points and Jared Coleman-Jones’ 16 points led the way for the Aztecs.

The Aztecs (4-2) bounce back after falling to Oregon on Wednesday. SDSU is now 2-1 against ranked opposition this season after a win over No. 21 Creighton to open the tournament on Tuesday.

Houston (4-3) falls to just a game above .500. This was the first unranked loss for the Cougars and first loss against a non-SEC opponent, whose other losses have come to No. 11 Auburn and No. 9 Alabama.

The first half was a defensive struggle. San Diego State scored the first six points and led 10-5 before Houston tied the score at a dozen. The Cougars carried that momentum into a 28-21 lead with two minutes remaining in the first half but a Coleman-Jones three helped SDSU trim the deficit to five points (30-25) heading into halftime. Compton had eight of his points in the first half for the Aztecs while Emanuel Sharp had 12 at the break for the Cougars.

Milos Uzan hit two three-pointers to begin the second half and extend the Houston lead to 11. Coleman-Jones made consecutive buckets to cut the deficit back to six points, but the Cougars responded with four points of their own. The Aztecs went on a 7-1 run to make it a four-point game. After Houston extended the lead back up to 50-41, Nick Boyd made three straight baskets including a pair of threes to bring SDSU within two points. Following a Cougar two, BJ Davis drained a three to make it a one-point game. The Aztecs kept within five points for the remainder of the second half as Byrd made a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to tie the game at 65 and force overtime.

In the bonus period, San Diego State took a one-point lead on a free throw from Magoon Gwath. After Uzan put Houston back on top, Davis hit a pair of free throws to reclaim the lead and Byrd and Boyd made layups to put the Aztecs up 72-67. Cryer drained a three-pointer to make it a one possession game before one more Gwath free throw put SDSU back up three and Cryer’s last second shot missed as the Aztecs triumphed 73-70.

Byrd added six rebounds with his team leading 18 points. Coleman-Jones scored nine of his 16 points from beyond the arc, tying his career-high with three triples. Pharaoh Compton reached a career-high with 13 points of his own including a trio of dunks. Boyd also reached double figures with a dozen points of his own along with seven rebounds. Davis (five steals) and Gwath (five blocks) anchored the Aztec defense.

Houston was led by its trio of starting guards. Sharp finished with 23 points, LJ Cryer poured in 21 and Uzan added ten more points as the three combined for 54 of the Cougars’ 70 total points. While not scoring in large quantities, Houston’s bigs crashed the boards as J’Wan Roberts grabbed 12 rebounds and Joseph Tugler totaled nine boards.

San Diego State shot better from the field (40.4%-37.1%) but Houston was superior from beyond the arc (45.8%-36.0%) and at the line (76.5%-66.7%). SDSU outscored Houston in the paint (26-18), on fast breaks (7-0) and off the bench (16-7). The Aztecs had eight steals and just seven turnovers while the Cougars had a lone steal and turned the ball over 12 times.

THE NOTE
San Diego State improves to 2-0 against the No. 6-ranked team in the AP poll under Brian Dutcher. The Aztecs knocked off No. 6/6 Nevada 65-57 on February 20, 2019. SDSU is also 2-1 in its last three games against top ten opponents including a win against No. 1/2 Alabama in the Sweet 16 in 2023.

The Aztecs begin conference play on Wednesday. SDSU will play its first road game of the season on December 4, when it faces off against Fresno State at 7:30 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on FS1 and San Diego Sports 760.