AZTECS HANDLE COWBOYS WITH EASE

Wyoming again no match for SDSU as Mitchell scores 26

San Diego State’s next game, Wednesday night against New Mexico in Lubbock, Texas, tips at 10 p.m. local time.

So the silver lining about Saturday night’s whistlefest against Wyoming at Viejas Arena that took for-ev-er to finish is that at least the Aztecs got some practice playing after coach Brian Dutcher’s bedtime.

SDSU hog-tied the Cowboys 98-71 in a game that in most ways resembled the one here between these same teams two days earlier. The Aztecs got any shot they wanted, baited the Cowboys into contested 3-point attempts, rebounded, ran, dunked, dominated.

The most notable (and audible) difference: the whistles.

There were a combined 30 fouls and 35 free throws, and that was just in a first half that took 67 minutes to play — about 25 minutes longer than usual. Eight fouls were called in the first four minutes, and the Aztecs were already in the bonus with just 7:46 gone.

The only familiar face on the officiating crew was Bill Vinovich, and not for his work in the Mountain West. He’s better known as an NFL official and was crew chief at last Sunday’s AFC championship game between Kansas City and Buffalo.

This was only his 13th college basketball game of the season (and first in the Mountain West), and probably for that reason he’s ranked 188th in the Kenpom metric’s rating of officials that goes 200 deep. The other guys on Saturday night’s crew, Chad Shepherd and Brad Fowler, didn’t make the list.

It wasn’t all their fault, though. Still stinging from trailing the Aztecs 63-30 at the half on Thursday, the Cowboys brought a more aggressive mentality to Saturday’s game that led to more reaching, grabbing, pulling, bumping, tackling. Vinovich probably thought he was back at Arrowhead

Stadium.

And the Aztecs, the nation’s 11th most experienced team, knew how to exploit that. They shot 17 free throws in the first half and made 14.

Thursday: Eight free throws, total.

The first game was tied 7-7 when the Aztecs decided enough was enough and put the Cowboys away. They led 7-6 on Saturday when the separation began.

The constant parade to the free-throw line seemed to break the rhythm of the game, and the Aztecs (13-4, 7-3) weren’t as explosive offensively — “only” reaching 51 points by halftime, 12 fewer than Thursday, despite having only one turnover in the opening 15 minutes.

Matt Mitchell started for the second time since hyperextending his right knee on Jan. 14 and looked fully back to normal despite the cumbersome brace he’s required to wear. He had 26 points, five rebounds and four assists in 29 efficient minutes, thanks to four 3-pointers.

Six other Aztecs had eight or more points, including 15 from sophomore forward Keshad Johnson and 11 from freshman guard Lamont Butler.

They shot 60.7 percent overall and 47.8 percent (11 of 23) behind the arc. Twentyone of their 34 baskets were assisted, and only eight turnovers meant they finished with a through-theroof 1.485 points per possession.

Freshman guard Marcus Williams, Wyoming ’s leading scorer, recovered from a 2of-13 shooting effort Thursday for 18 points. But the rest of the team managed only 14 baskets.

The Aztecs have now won their last four games by a combined 136 points, and you’d like to say it can’t get any easier from here. But it might. Next up are twogame series against New Mexico at Lubbock Christian University and San Jose State at Viejas Arena, teams that are a combined 2-18 against everyone else the Mountain West.

New Mexico has Division I’s 318th worst offense according to Kenpom. San Jose State has the 336th worst defense — worse, even, than Air Force (329) and Wyoming

(322).

For that reason, Dutcher lit into his team Thursday after being outscored 27-24 in the second half by Wyoming (10-7, 4-6), fighting the human tendency of complacency against inferior opposition.

The second-half effort level, then, was a point of emphasis Saturday, and he got a better one for the most part even if the Cowboys shot 52 percent. The offense was crisper, thanks to 13 second-half points from Johnson and only three secondhalf turnovers (compared to 12 on Thursday).

Second half score: Aztecs 47, Cowboys 43.

DENIS POROY Aztecs forward Matt Mitchell shoots over Wyoming guard Hunter Maldonado (right) during the first half. Mitchell had 26 points.