San Diego State Defense Stifles Cal, Gives Offense Time to Catch Fire in 71-50 Win

Nick Boyd shook off a rough first half to score all 17 of his points after the break as No. 23 San Diego State beat California 71-50 Saturday.

After missing all six of his shots in the first half, Boyd hit two 3-pointers in the first minute of the second to help send the Aztecs (8-2, 1-0 Mountain West) to their fifth straight win.

BJ Davis and Miles Byrd each added 12 points for SDSU.

.@NicholaswBoyd with the stepback trey!
????: @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/Ieo8DX2PoD

— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 22, 2024

Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 13 points and Andrej Stojakovic added 10 for the Golden Bears (7-5), though SDSU held him to half of his season average. Cal shot 25.5% for the game and lost its 19th straight against a ranked opponent.

The Aztecs stymied the Bears early – they missed 16 straight shots in the first half, which frustrated coach Mark Madsen. The refs called him for a technical foul late in the half.

Before the team caught fire, San Diego State – which had a brutal day of travel due to the fog that enveloped San Diego and Southern California – barely kept up, missing 11 of 12 shots.

Nothing but the bottom of the net for @_mbyrd21!
????: @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/ePUSapZ1i4— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 22, 2024

But then they went on a 16-1 run late in the first half to lead 25-16 at the break.

Assistant Dave Velasquez acknowledged that the team missed some easy shots in an interview with San Diego Sports 760, but said “they did not let that affect our defense.”

Byrd hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the first half to end a streak of 21 straight misses from long distance for both teams to start the game. San Diego State whiffed on its first 10 tries and Cal was 0 for 12.

Following Boyd’s lead, the Aztecs then made 8 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half, to leave Cal in the dust. Velasquez described their performance as “scorching hot.”

The Bears had scored at least 80 points in six straight games for the first time since 1972 before being held to 50 by the Aztecs.

“We guarded as well as we have all season,” said Velasquez, who also credited freshman Magoon Gwath for his impact on the game.

San Diego State hosts Utah State at 2 p.m. Dec. 28. as conference play begins in earnest. The Aggies (10-1, 1-0 MW) play St. Mary’s at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Associated Press and Times of San Diego news editor Jennifer Vigil contributed to this report.