SAN DIEGO (AP) Malachi Flynn hit a 3-pointer with nine-tenths of a second left to give cold-shooting San Diego State a thrilling 59-57 victory over San Jose State on Sunday for the Aztecs’ first 10-0 start in nine seasons.
SDSU (2-0 Mountain West Conference) is off to its best start since opening 20-0 behind Kawhi Leonard in 2010-11. That team finished 34-3 after reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time.
The Aztecs were in trouble after a flurry of 3-pointers by the Spartans in the final five minutes, including one by by Brae Ivey for a 55-54 lead. Seneca Knight added added a nice bank shot for a three-point lead for SJSU (3-7, 0-2).
But Matt Mitchell hit two free throws with 41.3 seconds to go, Knight missed two free throws and Mitchell rebounded KJ Feagin’s missed 3-pointer with about 10 seconds left. After an SDSU timeout, the Aztecs retained possession following a held ball. Jordan Schakel passed to Flynn, who found nothing but net to send Viejas Arena into a frenzy.
Mitchell finished with 13 points, Nathan Mensah 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Schakel 11 points.
Knight had 15 for the Spartans while Ivey had 13 and Ralph Agee 12.
The Aztecs shot just 32% percent and let the Spartans pull within four points three times midway through the second half.
The Spartans got consecutive 3-pointers by Knight and Christian Anigwe to pull to 52-49 and silence thecrowd with 4:18 to go.
SDSU led 22-9 after Feagin converted a three-point play with 7:33 to go before halftime. But their shooting cooled off and San Jose State used an 8-1 run to pull to 30-25 at halftime, including a 3-pointer by Agee.
BIG PICTURE
San Jose St:ate: The Spartans have lost five straight. They trailed No. 25 Utah State by three at halftime on Wednesday night before losing 71-59.
San Diego State: The Aztecs should move into The Associated Press Top 25 on Monday. They were 28th last week, 23 points shy of being ranked. They haven’t been ranked since they were No. 24 on Feb. 28, 2015. They lost their next game to Boise State
UP NEXT
San Jose State hosts Stanford on Saturday.
San Diego State is off for finals until hosting San Diego Christian on Dec. 18.
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For more AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
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