LIVE BLOG: Aztecs dominated UNLV for another Mountain West win

POSTGAME ANALYSIS

From the first bucket on, San Diego State never looked back. The Aztecs never relinquished the lead against UNLV, creating a lead as large as 23 points with under eight minutes left in the second half. Although the Runnin' Rebels stayed chippy down the stretch and cut the lead to 11, it was evident to everyone in Viejas Arena that SDSU was cruising to another solid conference win.

The Aztecs now have another 20-win season under Coach Brian Dutcher, and as Sports Director Ben Higgins pointed out, the focus should be to win the conference outright and secure a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. From there, SDSU could very well have a path to the Sweet 16, depending how the bracket shakes out.

Overall, the Aztecs shot 51.7% from the field and 42.9% from deep. On the flip side, UNLV was 40.7% from the field. Their foul shots in the second half made the game appear closer than it truly was (they got to the double bonus with about 7 minutes left).

SDSU had a total of 42 rebounds, with 18 coming off the offensive glass. Nathan Mensah was a menace, recording an easy double-double on the day.

UNLV had a mere 23 rebounds.

SECOND HALF

FINAL — San Diego State wins 82-71

1:12 remaining, Score: 80-65, Aztecs — Harkless fouls out of the game for UNLV following a LeDee offensive rebound. He led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 11-13 from the free throw line and 3-6 from deep. The crowd did the classic "left, right, left... sit down!" chant as he made his way to the bench.

2:55 remaining, Score: 78-61, Aztecs — Some impressive metrics for the Aztecs: They have 30 points in the paint, and 20 second chance points in this contest. The Aztecs have made three of their last four shots. Although they're in the bonus, they've barely made it to the line in the second half.

Jaedon Ledee was given a technical foul by the ref after an aggressive move inside by UNLV. Harkless made the free throw, and UNLV scored quickly inside after Trammell lost the ball.

Coach Dutcher calls timeout to let his team catch a breath and slow down this mini UNLV run.

4:40 remaining, Score: 76-53, Aztecs — Adam Seiko is on fire! He hit his third three of the second half, and he leads SDSU with 18 points. Matt Bradley has 15 himself, and Keshad Johnson has 14 on the day.

UNLV called a 30-second timeout, and fans started filing out of the arena, chanting in glee on their way out.

6:42 remaining, Score: 68-50, Aztecs — UNLV has come back to earth after starting the 2nd half shooting 75% from the field. They're now 7-15, but they're still shooting well from the free throw line. Meanwhile, SDSU is a cool 58.8% from the field, including 100% from three, this half.

UNLV is already in the double bonus. The Aztecs have put the pressure on throughout the second half, forcing UNLV to really work to get the ball above mid-court and to use extra effort to get into their offensive sets.

Boos came raining down on the refs when Lamont Butler was called for a charge, his third personal foul of the game.

10:47 remaining, Score: 61-39, Aztecs — The refs have been very whistle happy in the second half. SDSU has seven team fouls, while UNLV has five.

SDSU caught fire again from deep, shooting 4-4 so far this half. Adam Seiko is your new leading scorer, with 15 points, as he hit two of those threes.

Although UNLV has kept up with SDSU for the most part this half, the early big lead gave the Aztecs plenty of breathing room. One big number that jumps out to me is the rebounding performance for SDSU: They have 31 to UNLV's 14.

Even in stretches where they've gone cold, the constant rebounds allow SDSU to control clock, slowly sucking the life out of their opponent. 13 of those boards came off the offensive glass.

15:58 remaining, Score: 48-34, Aztecs — Some early fouls by SDSU and easy shots for UNLV allowed the Rebels to start digging out of the huge halftime hole.

Harkless already has 7 points to start this frame for UNLV. Out of the gate, they're shooting 75% from the field. If this trend continues, we'll have ourselves a ball game again. Basketball is a game of runs, after all.

18:00 remaining, Score: 46-25, Aztecs — The Aztecs opened the second half with a shotclock violation, and a couple of quick fouls, including Nathan Mensah hitting Elijah Harkless on a three-point attempt. Harkless made two out of the three buckets.

After several misses inside, Bradley hit a three pointer.

HALFTIME ANALYSIS, Score: 43-23, Aztecs — The story of the season continues for SDSU: The Aztec defense stifles opponents game in and game out. UNLV is shooting an abysmal 25% from the field at halftime. From the 8:45 mark to the end of the half, SDSU held the Rebels to zero buckets from the floor.

Their confidence is clearly shot — even with a wide open chance from three, UNLV put up a brick. On the next possession, Victor Iwuakor dribbled the ball off of his foot on a drive to the hoop. They're clearly discombobulated.

The lone thing keeping the Rebels on life support? Foul shots.

SDSU's aggressive defense led to UNLV getting into the bonus with a few minutes left in the half, and they're shooting 90% from the charity stripe. However, that only accounted for nine of their first half points.

San Diego State was 52% from the field in the first half, making seven three point shots along the way. At one point, they were above 50% from three, but the Aztecs got trigger happy. Granted, they kept getting offensive boards inside, so why not kick it out for another chance when they've been feeling themselves?

Keshad Johnson is your leading scorer, with 12 points in the first half. Bradley wasn't far behind, with 8 — he hit two of the threes and had a nice dunk off a UNLV turnover.

Four different Aztecs have put their hand in the cookie jar in this one, each putting up a steal on the score sheet. Although SDSU's size inside has led to poor shooting for UNLV, it's the backcourt that has all the blocks for the Aztecs in this one. Active hands will continue to be the calling card for the home team as the second half starts.

I've already said it — but I'll say it again: If UNLV doesn't improve their shooting immediately in the second half, the Runnin' Rebels will be running out of the gym. Based on Coach Dutcher's eagerness to bring out the full court pressure coming out of timeouts, I believe SDSU won't let up and will keep their foot on UNLV's throat.

We'll see if SDSU can make this a complete, 40-minute dominant win.

FIRST HALF

3:28 remaining, Score: 36-21, Aztecs — Aguek Arop was called for a flagrant foul after an official review. After UNLV made both foul shots, SDSU brought full court pressure. On the other end, Trammell stuffed Jordan McCabe at the three point line, leading to a shot clock violation.

On the other end, Matt Bradley swished another three, continuing an encouraging trend for SDSU. The Aztecs were shooting 50% from three, but on the next possession, they missed three in a row. Bradley fouled Harkless on the next UNLV possession, leading to the 1-and-1 bonus.

He made both foul shots.

7:34 remaining, Score: 30-14, Aztecs — Although the Rebels called timeout to slow down the Aztecs, SDSU responded by showing full court pressure. It took UNLV more than one attempt to advance the ball beyond midcourt, showing that SDSU will keep putting their feet to the fire.

Yes, the Rebels swished a three, but they have quite the hole to dig out of.

I'd also like to point out that SDSU is shooting over 50% from three — I can't tell you the last time that happened!

9:01 remaining, Score: 30-11, Aztecs — WOW! SDSU is running the Runnin' Rebels out of the gym. This run they've been on has been absolutely dominant.

Just look at how pumped the crowd was when UNLV was forced to call timeout to stem the bleeding:

The San Diego State defense continues to have active hands — Keshad Johnson nearly went coast-to-coast after an easy steal at the top of the three point line, but he was hacked on the other end. The refs assessed UNLV's Keshon Gilbert with a flagrant foul for whacking Johnson's arm.

Johnson went 1-of-2 from the line, and on the ensuing bonus possession, Lamont Butler soared through the air and threw down after Johnson was stripped.

Prior to that play, Darrion Trammell extended to the perimeter to block a shot.

Defense has been the name of the game for SDSU all season — Kenpom has them as the No. 25 adjusted defense in the country.

SDSU is shooting over 60% from the field so far — and Mensah threw down an alley oop. He even converted the three-point play! The Aztecs got another steal on the ensuing UNLV possession, and Bradley got a dunk of his own.

Rebels called timeout to try to stem the bleeding.

11:42 remaining, SCORE: 19-11, Aztecs: SDSU is shooting really well early on in this one — going 8-14 from the field at the under 12-minute timeout. That being said, UNLV has converted on some high percentage shots as well.

The Aztecs are 47% from three-point land, with Bradley, Johnson and Seiko all hitting triples so far. Additionally, SDSU is outrebounding UNLV, 8 to 4, early on.

14:24 remaining, SCORE: 14-6, Aztecs: San Diego State came firing out the gate, as Nathan Mensah flushed an easy dunk down for the first bucket of the game. Keshad Johnson already has nine points, scoring off some easy buckets inside and a nice long-range two pointer. UNLV's guards have scored early — Keshon Gilbert is 2-2 from the field, while Elijah Harkless scored another bucket.

Below, you'll find some videos from inside the arena, giving you a point of view from the media area.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

As is tradition, the crowd at Viejas stands and claps until the first bucket of the game. SDSU wasted no time at all, as Nathan Mensah flushed an easy dunk to let the crowd take a seat.

Take a look as the San Diego State starting lineup is introduced. You can see why the Aztecs have such a strong home court advantage in Viejas.

The student section leader for SDSU led the "I believe we will win" chant to get the crowd fired up pretip.

Our very own ABC 10News anchor Kimberly Hunt is also attending the game (although she's not working like I am!)!

GAME PREVIEW

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego State Aztecs are looking to stay on top of the Mountain West standings as they continue conference play against UNLV Saturday afternoon.

The No. 25 ranked team in the country has defeated the Runnin' Rebels at home in seven of their last eight meetings at Viejas Arena. In the last outing against UNLV, the Aztecs came away with a 76-67 victory in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve.

Both Matt Bradley and Darrion Trammell scored over 20 points in that last matchup — expect the Rebels' defense to key on the Aztec backcourt this time around. UNLV's guards played well in the last game too; Luis Rodriguez dropped 24 points, while Elijah Harkless and Justin Webster dropped 18 and 10, respectively.

In SDSU's most recent outing against Utah State, Trammell was ejected from the game following a controversial call. SDSU still came away with the victory after a tight battle, thanks to Bradley's sharp shooting.

Every game counts in this home stretch of conference play, especially since Nevada (10-3 MW) is just one game out from SDSU's (10-2 MW) top spot in the Mountain West.

This is the 79th all time meeting between SDSU and UNLV. The Aztecs lead the series, 41-37.

Follow along with ABC 10News Digital Producer Pat Mueller as he brings you live updates from the contest in Viejas Arena. Tipoff is at 1 p.m.