SAN DIEGO — Adam Seiko scored 18 points, all on 3-pointers, and Matt Bradley added 17 points for No. 25 San Diego, the Mountain West Conference front-runner, in an 82-71 victory Saturday over UNLV. It was the Aztecs’ third straight win and seventh in eight games.
The Aztecs (20-5, 11-2 MWC) buried the Rebels in a blizzard of 3-pointers and slam dunks, especially in a 14-0 run midway through the first half, to sweep the season series and beat UNLV for a fifth straight time. Keshad Johnson scored 11 of his 14 points in the game’s first 6 1/2 minutes and Nathan Mensah had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
EJ Harkless scored 24 for UNLV (16-9, 5-8) before fouling out with 2:05 to go. Keshon Gilbert added 19 for the Rebels, who didn’t get their first assist until two minutes into the second half.
San Diego State led by 23 points with 7:45 to play before the Rebels cut the gap. The Aztecs made 12 of 28 3-pointers overall and 7 of 19 in the first 20 minutes, when they dominated from the opening tip to lead 43-23 at halftime.
The Aztecs started the game with alley-oop slam dunks by Mensah and Johnson, with Lamont Butler assisting on both, and then began draining 3s.
Seiko and Micah Parrish opened the 14-0 run with 3-pointers before the Aztecs showed a strong inside game with three straight slam dunks by Butler, Mensah — who converted a 3-point play — and Bradley to take a 30-11 lead.
Johnson’s early points included a 3-pointer and a steal, after which he went coast-to-coast for a layup. Seiko had three 3-pointers in each half.