SAN DIEGO — Wyoming couldn’t recover from a late first-half surge by San Diego State and dropped a 72-63 decision to the Aztecs on Tuesday night at Viejas Arena.

San Diego State, which entered the night tied for first place in the Mountain West, closed the opening half on an 11-2 run to take control. The loss dropped Wyoming to 13-10 overall and 4-8 in conference play.

“You have to be your best when your best is needed and against good teams you need your entire team to be needs to be pretty solid and we got some good games from our role guys, but we needed others to step up tonight,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said. “I give the guys credit and we should [sic] some grit and toughness and that showed me a little spark.”

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Wyoming shot 32 percent from the field and went 9 of 32 from 3-point range for 28 percent. San Diego State finished at 45 percent shooting, made 23 free throws and held a 35-29 rebounding edge. The Aztecs also scored 14 points off 14 Wyoming turnovers.

Khaden Bennett led Wyoming with 14 points, marking his second straight game in double figures. Damarion Dennis added 14 points, his third double-figure outing in the last four games, and Uriyah Rojas scored 11 points off the bench.

Wyoming opened the game on a 5-0 run, but San Diego State responded with a 6-0 surge to take the lead. The Cowboys later used a 5-0 run midway through the first half to briefly regain the advantage, but the Aztecs answered with an 8-0 run and closed the half strong to take a 35-24 lead into the break. San Diego State shot 50 percent in the first half, while Wyoming committed nine turnovers and shot 32 percent.

The Aztecs pushed the lead to 40-24 early in the second half before Wyoming responded with a 9-0 run to pull within 40-33. San Diego State rebuilt the margin to double digits and led by as many as 16 in the second half. Wyoming cut the deficit to 10 with under six minutes remaining but couldn’t get closer down the stretch.

Reese Dixon-Waters scored 23 points to lead San Diego State, going 6 of 10 from the field and making nine free throws. Miles Byrd added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Wyoming returns home to host Utah State on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. The game will be a Gold Out, with fans encouraged to wear gold.