LAS VEGAS — The time has come.
SDSU has made its run to have a chance at its eighth Mountain West title. After defeating No. 7-seed Colorado State and No. 3-seed New Mexico, the Aztecs only have one more opponent in their way.
Utah State has run the conference all season long, being the clear favorite to take home the title for the majority of the year. Yesterday proved those predictions to be true.
No. 2-seed San Diego State men’s basketball (22-11, 14-6 Mountain West) fell in the Mountain West championship to No. 1-seed Utah State (28-6, 15-5 MW) 73-62 on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, putting the Aztecs’ NCAA tournament hopes in jeopardy.
“We knew the whole game was going to be decided in the paint and they got in the paint more than we did,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. “They lived in the paint, made plays from the paint and then made timely jump shots.”
Junior guard Miles Byrd scored the first basket of the game on a fastbreak layup after a steal on Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Player of the Year. Senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters followed up that possession with a turnaround jumper on the right elbow, but the Aggies’ 9-2 run put them in front early.
Off the inbound, Dixon-Waters found an open spot on the left elbow for an easy mid-range jumper. But a three-pointer from Aggies guard MJ Collins Jr. put Utah State back on top at 20-17. Utah State forward Garry Clark extended the lead after an and-1 finish at the rim.
Sophomore forward Magoon Gwath continued to create second-chance opportunities for the Aztecs, pulling down his fourth offensive rebound of the game that led to an easy layup. Dixon-Waters and Byrd drilled consecutive triples to knot the game at 32 apiece with five minutes left in the half.
“Just letting the game come to me and just trying to lock in on the defensive end,” Dixon-Waters said. “Something that I’ve been trying to work on, not being so caught up in what they have and just being present in the moment.”
After four straight minutes of essentially no scoring, sophomore guard Taj DeGourville grabbed a crucial board off Gwath’s missed free throw. He pulled it back out to the left wing to run the clock all the way down, made a move inside and finished gently off the glass to give the Scarlet and Black a one-point lead heading into the break at 35-34.
Despite Dixon-Waters’ 12 first-half points, the Aztecs’ offense has been fairly lackluster again. However, the defensive effort and urgency to get rebounds have kept SDSU in the game. Utah State shot 14-for-34 from the field and just 3-for-14 from the three-point line. This style of play has been emphasized by Dutcher throughout the tournament and it must be present throughout the remainder of the game in order to come out victorious.
“Utah State did a great job defensively and really limited our opportunities at the offensive end,” Dutcher said.
Aggies guard Drake Allen started the second half hot, going on a 7-0 solo run to build a six-point Utah State lead, forcing the Aztecs to call a timeout. Simmons brought the deficit back to four after making a pair of free throws.
Junior guard BJ Davis scored the next four points for the Aztecs, followed by a fastbreak reverse layup from Dixon-Waters that gave the lead back to SDSU. However, that momentum shifted immediately after Collins Jr. met sophomore forward Pharaoh Compton at the rim for a posterizing dunk that erupted the Aggie crowd.
“They just looked like the more fresh team in the second half,” Byrd said. “When it came to winning time, they made more plays, got to the paint, dropped to the big, dunks, offensive rebounds. They just made more plays than we did.”
Both SDSU and Utah State traded baskets for the next couple of minutes without either unit being able to build a cushion. A layup from Clark gave the Aggies a three-point advantage with eight minutes left in the game.
Although the game had been so tight all night, the game-shifting moment ultimately led to the Aztecs’ despair.
Dixon-Waters picked up his fourth foul trying to get through a screen to contest Collins Jr., resulting in a five-point play after he made the three, and Zach Keller converted both free throws. The Aztecs found themselves in its largest hole of the night after a four-point deficit extended to nine in just one play, with under five minutes left.
“That was really a huge momentum turn,” Dutcher said. “Took the lead from four to nine in one possession and then they just kinda held on from that point on.”
Gwath kept SDSU’s hope alive after knocking down a top-of-the-key three to cut the lead to eight. That dream was short-lived, however.
Consecutive layups from Falslev would put the lights out for the Aztecs as the clock ran down to zero and the scoreboard read 73-62.
Although the score might not show it, SDSU put up a fight until the very end, but it wouldn’t be enough to come home with a Mountain West title. Dixon-Waters performed efficiently last night, scoring 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, while Collins Jr. led the way for the Aggies with 20 points of his own and four triples.
Despite not getting the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, San Diego State will still have a slight chance of getting selected into the bracket. Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun believes they should.
“That’s an NCAA tournament team; they belong in the NCAA tournament,” Calhoun said. “If you look at their body of work, I hope they get in. I think Coach Dutcher is a tremendous coach. This league deserves a couple bids.”
Now all the Aztecs can do is wait until their destiny is announced on NCAA Selection Sunday at 3 p.m. this afternoon on CBS.
