DENVER –
The shot (a deep three off the dribble with his team trailing by two) was just a piece.
The final portion of one of the most dramatic games in San Diego State’s Mountain West Conference run.
But it was the shot junior guard Brandon Heath had to make, the kind SDSU expected the MWC Player of the Year to drain.
With SDSU down 60-58 and 38 seconds remaining against UNLV, Heath drained a 3-pointer to give the Aztecs the one-point lead.
But that was just part of the win.
The final pieces of the equation came from Rebel forward Curtis Terry, who traveled with 9.2 seconds remaining, and SDSU senior guard John Sharper sinking two free throws with 6.3 seconds to secure a 63-60 win in the semifinal matchup of the MWC Tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
“I am extremely proud of how we competed and fought, especially down in the stretch, especially with how we guarded and rebounded the ball,” said head coach Steve Fisher, whose squad got its fifth straight win and 23rd of the season – tying the Division I-era record and short of the all-time school mark.
The victory sends the Aztecs (23-8, 15-3 MWC) to the finals against Wyoming (14-17, 7-11) at 7 p.m today – and put an end to a game in which SDSU blew a seven-point halftime lead, shot just 37 percent and surrendered 32 points in the paint.
The Aztecs’ troubles inside came primarily because of UNLV forward Louis Amundson. Although he played just 18 minutes because of foul trouble, he still grabbed nine rebounds and gave the momentum back to the Rebels. Amundson fouled out with 2 minutes, 48 seconds remaining, and his team ahead 56-55.
Fisher admitted that Amundson’s absence was significant with the game so close in the final minutes.
“It was obviously a huge piece of the puzzle when Amundson got his second foul and sat eight or nine minutes in the first half,” said Fisher, whose strategy was to double the post even though that leaves potential for an open 3-point shot or swing pass. “So, we were able to not have as many of those situations when he, A, got in foul trouble, and then, B, fouled out.”
Fisher was particularly proud of junior forward Marcus Slaughter’s game-high 14 rebounds (he also had 16 points), though, as the first-team All-MWC selection set the conference tournament record for most rebounds in a semifinal game, just one night after setting an MWC Tournament record with 19 boards in the quarterfinals.
“If there’s a better rebounder in the country than Marcus, I haven’t seen him,” Fisher said. “He got some balls that he had no right to get.”
With a win tonight against Wyoming, SDSU can guarantee itself an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, Rebel head coach Lon Kruger believes his team lost to an NCAA Tourney-caliber squad.
“I think without question (SDSU should be in the NCAA Tournament,)” Kruger said. “I think SDSU has had a terrific year. Absolutely, we hope that’s the case, regardless of the outcome (against Wyoming).