Trojans Win At San Diego State, 49-43

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Little Rock didn't have to wait long for the first big win of the Chris Beard era as the Trojans knocked off preseason Mountain West Conference favorite San Diego State by a 49-43 final at Viejas Arena on Saturday. The win improved the Trojans to 3-0 on the season while SDSU dropped to 2-2 overall.
 
The Trojans become just the 12th team and sixth non-Mountain West member to beat the Aztecs in Viejas Arena since 2005. The win is Little Rock's third-ever over a Mountain West opponent, and first since Colorado State on Nov. 30, 2002.
 
"The reason this win is so big is because we have so much respect for coach Fisher and San Diego State's program," Beard said after the win. "I'm proud of those guys. It's just like we told them in the recruiting process, the preseason and practice every day – why not us? The first step in building something special is you have to believe. Tonight, I thought there was a lot of trust on the bench. The coaching staff did a good job, Mark Adams had a great scout and our senior leadership was good. Just a lot of good things tonight in San Diego."
 
Little Rock led for all but 4:41 of the game but needed a late push to put the game away. Trailing 41-38 at the 4:14 mark of the second half, the Trojans used nine straight points from Josh Hagins to build a 47-43 lead with just 46 seconds to play. Marcus Johnson Jr. added two free throws late to bring the game to its final outcome.
 
Hagins finished with a game-high 14 points to go along with six rebounds. Jermaine Ruttley added nine points and seven boards while Johnson, Lis Shoshi and Mareik Isom all added six points.
 
Little Rock's defense limited San Diego State to 13-of-46 shooting and a 6-of-24 effort from 3-point range. The Trojans committed just six turnovers compared to 16 for the Aztecs.
 
Little Rock, who took a seven-point lead into the break, started the second half by connecting on just one of its first 11 shots. San Diego State took its first lead since early in the first half on a 3-pointer by Ben Perez that made it 30-29 with 10:57 to play.
 
The Trojans answered with a 5-0 run, using a floater by Ruttley and 3-pointer from Roger Woods to go back up four.
 
Little Rock led until another triple by Perez put SDSU up 36-34 with 6:34 to play. Johnson scored on Little Rock's next possession to tie the game, and a hook shot by Shoshi fell with just under five minutes to play to make it a 4-0 spurt and put the Trojans up 38-36. The Aztecs answered with five straight points, capped by Perez's third 3-pointer of the second half to put SDSU up 41-38.
 
That's when Hagins took over, scoring the next nine Little Rock points to put the Trojans up 47-43. It started with a tough baseline floater. He followed with a triple from the top of the key. His second floater put Little Rock up 45-43 with 1:24 to go and a deep two-point jumper with 46 seconds to go capped the senior's scoring burst.
 
Little Rock finished the night with just six turnovers, including zero in the first half.
 
A 10-0 run midway through the opening half allowed Little Rock to build an 11-point lead on the Aztecs. The lead stretched to 13-8 after a Ruttley steal turned into two free throws for the newcomer. Hill connected on a triple from the top of the key with the shot clock winding down on the Trojans' next possession, while Shoshi's step-back jumper put the Trojans up 19-8 with just over eight minutes to play in the half.
 
The Aztecs answered with five straight points before Isom's second triple at the 4:20 mark stopped the bleeding. Little Rock's lead stretched to 11, its largest of the half at 24-13, with 2:49 to play in the half before going into intermission with a 26-19 advantage.
 
Little Rock returns to action vs. East Carolina in the Las Vegas Invitational at 1 p.m. on Thursday.