Late Night Snacks: San Diego State holds off Colorado State on the road
By Rob DausterJan 2, 2014, 12:36 AM EST
GAME OF THE NIGHT: No. 21 San Diego State 71, Colorado State 61
Xavier Thames continued his terrific play, going for 23 points, and Winston Shepard added 17 points as the Aztecs went into the always-difficult Moby Arena and knocked off a rebuilding Colorado State team, 71-61. It was a big win for a San Diego State team off to their second-best start in school history, as they locked up a league win in their first game of the season and did it in one of the toughest road environs in the conference. It could have been easy for the Aztecs to overlook this game as well. SDSU heads to Lawrence on Sunday to take on Kansas in a game with massive implications not only for the Aztecs but for the Mountain West as well. The league didn't do all that well in the non-conference portion of the schedule, and picking of a team like Kansas — a Big 12 favorite that's only going to get better as the season goes — would be a huge boost for their computer numbers.
1) Willis Hall went for 26 points and 21 boards as Charleston picked up a huge road win at Davidson. Those 21 rebounds tied Hall for the second-highest total in a game this season. Roscoe Smith of UNLV and Brandon West of Jackson State both snatched 22 boards in a game this season. The last time someone had that many boards and that many points in a game came on November 24th when Stony Brook's Jameel Warney finished with 32 points and 21 boards in an overtime win against Detroit. The last time it happened in a game in regulation was when Yale's Greg Mangano went for 35 points and 21 boards in a win over St. Joseph's (NY) in January of 2012. The last time it happened in a game against a Division I program was when Thomas Robinson had 30 points and 21 boards on New Year's Eve in 2011 against North Dakota.
2) Justin Jackson was a fantasy dream on Wednesday night. In Cincinnati's 65-57 win over SMU, Jackson finished with 17 points, six boards, five blocks, five steals and three assists.
3) Bryce Dejean-Jones had 24 points and six boards and Khem Birch went from 14 points, 17 boards and four blocks in a 75-62 win for UNLV against Fresno State.
STRUGGLED
1) Olivier Hanlan went 3-for-12 from the floor and committed three turnovers as Boston College got smacked around by Harvard on Wednesday night.
2) Langston Hall was 1-for-8 from the floor and had just four points as Atlantic Sun favorite Mercer lost at North Florida, 89-83.
3) Playing their first game without Daniel Dingle, Anthony Lee was just 3-for-15 from the floor as Temple lost to Rutgers 71-66 in their American opener.
Utah State, playing without Jarred Shaw, lost to Air Force, 73-72. That's a bad loss in what is supposed to be the easy road trip leg in the MWC.
Dayton put five players in double-figures as they beat Winthrop by 34.
Brett Comer scored 24 points as FGCU moved to 2-0 in Atlantic Sun play and took a one game lead over Mercer.