LOGAN, Utah _ Utah's Cache Valley is a beautiful place, with snow-capped mountain peaks cutting into an azure sky above a verdant plain, with quaint towns and a quiet life.
It also looked pretty nice inside to the visitors from San Diego. It got almost as quiet, too.
This was supposed to be the game that tripped up undefeated San Diego State and brought a fairy-tale season crashing back to reality, facing preseason Mountain West favorite Utah State in its raucous home arena Saturday night and doing it without two of its best interior players.
It didn't happen. The Aztecs have played to the level of competition all season, up or down, and they did again _ elevating their game for a 77-68 victory that ended the Aggies' 15-game win streak at sold-out Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
That improves 13th-ranked SDSU to 15-0 overall and 4-0 atop the Mountain West, and sure to climb again when the next Associated Poll is released Monday morning after Nos. 7, 9 and 10 all lost earlier Saturday.
The Aztecs led by 11 in the first half and by 16 when Utah State coach Craig Smith called timeout with 13:14 left. But the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum can be one of the loudest arenas in the nation, with seats rising steeply from the floor, with a low ceiling, with nowhere for the noise to go. Like a forest fire creating its own wind, it can create its own energy.
And it did, breathing life into the heretofore lethargic Aggies. From there, it became of a question of whether the Aztecs could hang on. They had only one basket over the next 5{ minutes while the Aggies trimmed the deficit to seven.
Utah State never got any closer.
Matt Mitchell took over, draining a deep 3 from the left side and a step-back 2 just inside the line in the left corner late in the shot block to push the margin to 12 again.
The final dagger came on a Jordan Schakel 3 with 1:26 left that made it 74-61. The Spectrum went silent.
Malachi Flynn overcame early foul trouble to finish with 22 points, continuously driving off high ball screens and lofting floaters in the lane or draw fouls (he was 10 of 10 at the line).
Mitchell added 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Schakel had 11 and Yanni Wetzell had 10, including several nifty spins and shot fakes against 7-foot Aggies center Neemias Queta on the block.
The Aztecs shot 50.9% and were 9 of 20 behind the 3-point arc, their best in more than a month against a Division I opponent. Equally important, they held their own on the glass against one of the nation's top rebounding teams (and statistically its tallest), ending with a 34-30 advantage.
Sam Merrill, the reigning Mountain West player of the year, had 26 points for Utah State (13-4, 2-2) but he was 3 of 12 behind the arc with KJ Feagin in his face for most of the night. It also didn't help that the Aggies were 16 of 24 from the line.
SDSU didn't have starting center Nathan Mensah, who, even though he was listed as "doubtful," didn't make the trip. Aguek Arop, its best interior defender off the bench, made the trip but didn't suit up for the sixth straight game with a strained shoulder.
Utah State did have its starting center, Queta, the 2018-19 Mountain West defensive player of the year who had played only four of 16 games this season with knee problems.
Queta didn't play in Wednesday's (shocking) 70-53 loss at UNLV even though all indications were he would, and Smith had some pointed comments in the Logan Herald Journal on Saturday that sounded an awful lot like they were directed at the 7-foot sophomore from Portugal.
"We are negotiating a lot right now health-wise," Smith said, "but I'm not going to get into all the details. If you are cleared to play, you better be out there playing your best. ... Either you are healthy or you're not. Either you can play or you can't.
"If you're cleared to play and want to play, you better play the right way. ... If you are cleared, you better bring it."
And there was Queta, running onto the floor when the starters were introduced. He finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in 30 minutes.
Without the 6-10 Mensah, who last season was able to play Queta straight up without the benefit of a double team, that put the onus on the 6-10 Wetzell, SDSU's only starting big, to contain Queta and not get in foul trouble. He finished the first half with only one.
The problem was Flynn and Mitchell each got two and went to the bench. Coach Brian Dutcher, who usually sits a player for the rest of the half once he reaches two, gambled with Flynn and he quickly picked up a third.
And yet, the Aztecs managed to still lead 34-27 at the break. They did it with backup guard Trey Pulliam driving off ball screens at the top of the key to break down Utah State's defense. Pulliam had seven points and five assists in the first half.
Auburn, the only other unbeaten team in Div. I, won at Mississippi State on Saturday.
