Derrick Tuskan, Photo Editor

SALT LAKE CITY – Eighteen minutes, 52 seconds.

That’s how long San Diego State led Indiana in the second half Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. To be sure, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee a victory. But for SDSU, which played in just its fifth tournament game in program history compared to the Hoosiers’ 86th, it seemed long enough to deserve a win and upset Indiana.

Three and 3/10 seconds.

That’s how much time was left when Hoosier guard Robert Vaden nailed a 3-pointer to put Indiana ahead, 85-83, after barely out-jumping junior forward Marcus Slaughter for a tipped ball.

And, after junior forward Mohamed Abukar’s inbound pass, intended for Slaughter, sailed the length of the court (and out of bounds) with three seconds remaining, sixth-seeded Indiana won, 87-83, in front of 15,122 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, crushing the Cinderella dreams of the 11th-seeded Aztecs.

“The ball was there,” said Slaughter, who tallied a team-high 10 rebounds and 13 points. “It was high, and I tried to tip it toward our end of the court. Good teams get good rolls, and today (the Hoosiers) got the roll on their end.

“Unfortunately, it went right back to them, and (Vaden) made a great shot.”

Indiana didn’t go far in the tournament, either. The Hoosiers lost 90-80 to third-seeded Gonzaga Saturday in the Oakland regional, probably the final game of Indiana head coach Mike Davis, who said he was resigning at the end of the season.

SDSU (24-9) failed to record its first tourney victory in school history despite, out-rebounding (36-31) and out-shooting (56.4 percent to 49.3) the Hoosiers. For most of the game, the Aztecs outplayed Indiana. SDSU was in full control with a double-digit lead twice in the second half and still owned a nine-point lead with 10:53 remaining.

All of which made the Aztecs’ loss even tougher to swallow.

“To end the season the way we did is extremely difficult,” head coach Steve Fisher said. “I’m bitterly disappointed that we didn’t get a win that we thought we were going to get; it looked like we were going to get, but we didn’t.”

SDSU’s fate appeared to be in its own hands late in the game as the Aztecs held the ball with less than one minute remaining and a one-point lead. At least until junior guard Brandon Heath turned the ball over at midcourt with 13.3 seconds remaining on a jump ball.

“I dribbled the ball off of my foot, and I thought I couldn’t touch it,” said Heath, who scored 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field. “If I touched it, it would have been back-court.”

SDSU, which shot 62.1 percent in the first half, couldn’t stop penetration to the inside and Indiana guard Earl Calloway made four layups with fewer than six minutes remaining. Again and again, when SDSU needed stops, it seemed like it was Calloway who kept driving through the lane with relative ease. Hoosier center Marco Killingsworth (18 points) helped Indiana score 51 points in the paint (SDSU had 28) and Abukar said that the Hoosiers’ penetration kept the Aztecs from closing the door shut on the game.

“They had too many layups,” said Abukar, who finished with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds. “That’s probably one of the biggest reasons why we lost.”

SDSU will, for a long time, run through explanations of the defeat – one that it was seconds away from avoiding, one that came in a season with so many accomplishments (Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament title) and one that had a painful ending.

“It hurts,” Heath said. “Anytime you lose – it hurts.”