San Diego St. wins MW/MVC Challenge at Illinois St. 75-65

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NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — Devin Watson pumped in 23 points and San Diego State won its first true road game of the season, knocking off Illinois State, 75-65 in the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Conference Challenge on Saturday afternoon.

The Aztecs (5-2) played three of their first six games on neutral sites.

Wilson hit a 3 to give San Diego State a quick, 8-3 lead and the Aztecs pushed it to 16-7 after Jalen McDaniels dunked with 12:45 remaining in the half. The Redbirds got within three early in the second half, but Wilson answered with a jumper and McDaniels dunked again and the Aztecs maintained their distance the rest of the way.

McDaniels finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds for San Diego State (5-2).

Phil Fayne and Malik Yarbrough each added 16 points and Yarbrough grabbed 13 boards for Illinois State (6-3), which suffered its first loss in five home games.

Former San Diego State coach Steve Fisher travelled with the team. The two-time national Coach of the Year earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Illinois State and he was 2-0 coaching against his alma mater.