LAS VEGAS — Miles Bird scored 18 points and Jared Coleman-Jones added 16 to help San Diego State edge No. 6 Houston 73-70 in overtime in the third place game of the Players Era tournament Saturday night.
Nick Boyd added 14 points and freshman Pharoah Compton 13 for the Aztecs (4-2).
Bird made two free throws with 13.4 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 65. Emanual Sharp missed a baseline jumper with 1 second remaining and the game went to overtime.
San Diego State built a five-point advantage in OT, but L.J. Cryer hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 72-70. Magoon Gwath made one of two free throws with 12 seconds left to make it a three-point game. Cryer had a chance to tie it, but missed a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left.
Sharp finished with 23 points and Cryer added 21.
Takeaways
Houston: The Cougars only had seven points from their bench and had only two players score in double-figures.
San Diego State: The Aztecs were outrebounded in the first half 24-15, but won the rebounding battle in the second half 18-16.
Key moment
Starting Boyd was held scoreless until the 9:02 mark of the second half, but hit a layup and two 3-pointers to cut a the Cougars lead to 54-52. Boyd scored 15 on Wednesday against Oregon and averages 13.2 points per game.
Key stat
The Aztecs shot 40 percent for the game against one of the top defensive teams in the country.
Up next
Houston will host Butler on Dec. 7. Butler won the Arizona Tip Off title by beating No. 25 Mississippi State 87-77. San Diego State will open Mountain West Conference play on Dec. 4 at Fresno State.
