Men's basketball falls 82-75 to San Diego State

SAN DIEGO — Spencer Johnson scored a career-high 17 points as BYU fell 82-75 to No. 19 San Diego State at Viejas Arena Friday night. 

"I thought we attacked really well in the first half and hit the glass," said head coach Mark Pope. "We had some activity defensively that I liked and we were sharing the ball. It kind of got away from us in the final 10 minutes. We lost the battle at the rim and Trammell hit some big shots."

BOX SCORE

POSTGAME NOTES

After leading 40-36 at half, BYU extended its lead with a 12-6 run built on two 3-pointers form Gideon George and points in the paint from Fousseyni Traore. A successful inbound play from Rudi Williams to Traore helped the Cougars tie their game-high lead at 52-42 with 15:47 to play.

An Aztec 3-point play and two minute BYU scoring drought helped San Diego State discover momentum and tied the game at 56 with 10:29 remaining.

Despite the Aztec run and the mounting crowd noise in hostile Viejas Arena, the Cougars continued to respond with freshman guard Dallin Hall nailing a turnaround jumper and then dishing to Traore for two. BYU found itself down 61-60 when junior guard Spencer Johnson responded with a 7-point run of his own. Johnson dialed it up from distance and knocked down the 3-pointer, then converted a George rebound for two points on a jumper. Following an Aztec miss, George would again find Johnson for the lay-in.

After Johnson’s barrage, the Cougars found themselves leading 67-61 with 6:50 to go. San Diego State would not go away easily. The Aztecs fought their way back with free throws and a dagger 3-pointer from guard Darrion Trammell as part of a game-closing 21-8 run. BYU closed the game on nearly two minutes without a field goal before the buzzer sounded on a 7-point defeat.

Turnovers and fouls combined in a losing recipe for the Cougars on Friday. BYU totaled 20 giveaways on the night to San Diego State’s 10. The Aztecs scored 17 points off those turnovers. San Diego State also shot 70% from the charity stripe on 37 free throw attempts. BYU, meanwhile, shot 63% on just 16 such attempts.

Johnson led BYU with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. The American Fork, Utah native also posted seven rebounds. Traore logged a productive night with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting along with 4- of-4 from the free throw line. Williams and George scored 15 and 11 points, respectively.

San Diego State posted two 20-point scorers with Jaedon LeDee at 23 and Trammell at 21.

Three-point shooting kept BYU in the game early and helped the Cougars lead by as many as 10 at 18-8 in the first half. The Cougars went 5-of-11 (45%) from beyond the arc and 50 percent from the floor in the opening period, while also scoring six fastbreak points. In the second half, the Cougars would record just four makes from distance on 15 attempts.

BYU returns home for a two-game stand beginning Nov. 16 as it hosts Missouri State. The Cougars then welcome Nicholls to the Marriott Center on Nov. 19. Both games will be broadcast live on BYUtv at 7 p.m. MDT and can be heard live on BYU Radio Sirius XM 143, BYURadio.org/BYU Radio app or KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM.