Before heading to Phoenix to play Grand Canyon on Tuesday, San Diego State jumped back into the Top 25 poll.
The No. 25 Aztecs (7-1) have won six consecutive games since losing at BYU on Nov. 10.
The latest was a 63-62 victory over crosstown rival UC San Diego on Friday night.
Micah Parrish (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Jaedon LeDee (13 points and 10 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles in the game. LeDee had a layup with 38 seconds left to play and hit the game-winning shot as time expired following an offensive rebound.
“It’s a game we knew we were going to get,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “I’ve played enough of these crosstown rivalry games against USD (University of San Diego) and now UCSD (UC San Diego) and we knew it was going to be like this. It was going to be an incredible environment. They were going to play at their absolute best.
“They did and we found a way to make enough timely plays to get a victory.”
As part of its six-game winning streak, San Diego State has overtime victories against Pac-12 schools Washington and Cal.
“We’ve got a good program, we’re able to learn lessons as we win,” Dutcher said. “Most programs are going to take an L (loss) or two L’s and learn a hard lesson. We’re learning lessons, but we’re still finding a way to win games.”
Grand Canyon (6-1) has won three consecutive games and is 4-0 at home this season.
The Antelopes are coming off a 76-69 win over UT Arlington on Saturday at home.
That victory and the 79-69 win at UT Rio Grande Valley last week has Grand Canyon at 2-0 in the WAC for the fourth straight year under coach Bryce Drew.
Grand Canyon entered the game against UT Arlington with the third-most free-throw attempts per game (29.5) in the nation. The Antelopes took just four free throws in the first half before going 25-for-32 at the line in the second.
That allowed Grand Canyon to win despite shooting 37.5 percent from the field or worse and committing 14 turnovers — its first such victory in its 11 years in Division I.
“When you’re not shooting it well, you’ve got to find other ways to win,” Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew said. “Credit our guys for getting to the line, rebounding the basketball. And defense, I thought our deflections, especially those last eight minutes, getting our hands on balls, really helped us.”
Grand Canyon closed the game on a 15-3 run to pull out the comeback win.
Tyon Grant-Foster led the Antelopes with 21 points and 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double, the first two double-doubles of his collegiate career. Gabe McGlothan added 16 points and nine rebounds against UT Arlington.
Grant-Foster averages 22.3 points per game to lead Grand Canyon. Ray Harrison adds 14.4 ppg and McGlothan provides 9.9 points and a team-best 7.9 rebounds per contest.
–Field Level Media