Fort Collins, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - JJ Avila scored a game-high 29 points as the Colorado State Rams held on to defeat the San Diego State Aztecs, 79-73, in Mountain West Conference play at Moby Arena.

Avila connected on all but four of his 16 field goal attempts on the night for the Rams (18-2, 5-2 MWC) as they posted their fourth straight win. Daniel Bejarano and Stanton Kidd both tallied 14 points for the hosts as well.

San Diego State (15-5, 5-2) was paced by Malik Pope who came off the bench to produce 22 points on a perfect 4-of-4 effort behind the 3-point line. Matt Shrigley pitched in with 16 points, JJ O'Brien 14 and Aqeel Quinn 10 points as the team had a four-game win streak come to an end.

The Rams made good on their first six 3-pointers of the meeting and appeared poised to run away with the decision, but after leading 27-10 midway through the first half they had to settle for a 40-32 advantage at the break.

Colorado State shot a modest 46.7 percent from the field through the first 20 minutes of action, but was incredibly hot on the outside, sinking all but three of 11 attempts from 3-point range.

In the second half SDSU fought back with 53.3 percent accuracy from the field, whittling the deficit down to just a single point (73-72) with four minutes remaining. The Aztecs were unable to get over the hump however, as the Rams continued with one of their best starts in program history.

CSU, which led from start to finish, made good on 12-of-21 shots beyond the arc and was 17-of-22 at the free-throw line as well.