Athletes live by the motto “next man up.” When the opportunity presents itself, one must rise to the occasion. Magoon Gwath’s recent knee injury forced the Aztecs to embody this mindset as they faced a top team in their conference.
“This is a tough, gutty win tonight, playing our first full game without Magoon,” head coach Brian Dutcher said. “(Miles) Heide stepped up, played great. Jared (Coleman-Jones) played great, and Pharaoh (Compton) played great off the bench. Our bigs were really valuable tonight, and so I’m proud of all of them. They all contributed at a high level, and we beat a very good New Mexico team.”
Viejas Arena was electric on Tuesday night as the (19-7, 12-5 MW) San Diego State Aztecs bested the (22-6, 14-3 MW) University of New Mexico Lobos, 73-65. Four SDSU players scored in double figures, including Nick Boyd (17), Miles Byrd (13), Coleman-Jones (12) and Heide (10).
Heide, the 6-foot 10-inch forward, filled Gwath’s spot in the starting lineup. He had one of the best games of his career, tying his high in points (10), grabbing seven boards and blocking a shot.
Boyd continued his impressive stretch and again led the team in points and assists (6). In the previous four games, he averaged 18.8 PPG, 4.8 APG and 2.8 RPG.
BJ Davis opened the scoring for SDSU with a wide-open three-point attempt set up by a Boyd drive.
Throughout the rivalry, UNM senior center Nelly Junior Joseph had his way on the glass, grabbing 16 total boards. He averages a double-double this season but was held to just 6 points (2-7 FG) on Tuesday night.
Heide spoke on defending Junior Joseph after the game.
“Our game plan was to front him. Limit his touches and avoid him from getting any free touches,” he said. “Guards did that as well. That’s the biggest key for us was discarding him, limiting his post touches and doubling on the bounce.”
Coming out of the first media timeout, the Lobos hit back-to-back triples and put together an 11-3 run that brought them their largest lead of the night (3). The Scarlet and Black countered by snagging 5 steals in the first 11 minutes of play.
SDSU regained the lead following back-to-back jump shots by the senior Coleman-Jones and a violent slam from the Mountain West Preseason Freshman of the Year, Compton.
With five minutes remaining in the first half, Byrd found himself in a dangerous situation when New Mexico guard, Kade Dotson, went after his legs as he took flight for a dunk. Viejas Arena erupted when the foul was replayed on the in-house screen.
In return, Byrd capped off the half with a deep three and a block on the Lobo’s 6-foot 10-inch center, Junior Joseph. The SDSU star ended the night with 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.
After the pause, the Aztecs made four of their first five shots including a crowd-pleasing alley-oop from Boyd to Byrd that stretched the lead to 11.
The Lobos found life with about 12 minutes left in the game and cut the lead down to five on a Jovan Milicevic three-pointer. Milicevic was efficient all night, dropping 16 (6-9 FG) and hitting four of his six shots from beyond the arc.
New Mexico’s star guard, Donovan Dent, started looking more like himself as the game ran late. He strung together seven straight points in the second half but it wasn’t enough to bring UNM back. The junior guard ended the night with 26 points and seven assists.
Dent leads the Mountain West Conference in PPG, with 19.9 and is second in APG with 6.5. Dutcher commented on his scoring abilities after the game.
“He’s one of the best guards in the country. So we just try to switch his ball screens, try to keep a body in front of a body,” he said. “And even with that being said, he goes in there and he’s an elite finisher.”
SDSU held its lead through the final minutes thanks to a three-point play by Coleman-Jones and a two-handed slam by the fill-in five, Heide.
The last time these teams matched up was in Albuquerque on Jan. 11 where SDSU suffered their worst loss of the season (62-48). The Aztecs were also outrebounded 51-35 while only grabbing three offensive boards to New Mexico’s 18. On Tuesday, the teams met for the 98th time. New Mexico still leads the all-time series 52-46.
San Diego State’s next game is on Saturday at the University of Wyoming.
“We’re going to spend two days of practice getting ready for what we know is going to be a hard game, playing in Laramie. I’ve been there for 25 years and I know how hard it is,” Dutcher said. “It’s going to be a hard game, and we will approach it that way, have nothing but great respect for Wyoming.”
