SDSU’S CLINCH A CINCH
Playing in 2nd home, Aztecs claim second straight MW crown
Maybe San Diego State could ask UNLV if it can hang its Mountain West championship banner in Thomas & Mack Center.
The custom is to display banners in your home arena, after all, and the Aztecs feel increasingly at home here.
Over the last 13 seasons, no program among the 350-plus in Division I has won more games in a building that technically isn’t its own. SDSU’s 71-62 victory here Wednesday night against UNLV is its 35th over that span, counting games against the Rebels as well in the conference tournament.
This one clinched an eighth overall and second straight Mountain West regular-season title, improving the 19th-ranked Aztecs to 14-3 in conference games but 16-3 when you include two forfeits against New Mexico. The best anyone else can do is 15-3, by Colorado State if it wins its finale Friday at Nevada.
Coach Brian Dutcher turned the corner into the visitor’s locker room … and junior forward Aguek Arop was hiding behind the wall, standing
on a trainer’s table with a blue bucket of ice water. Splash.
“I’m not sweating through my shirt,” Dutcher said a few minutes later in his virtual news conference. “I got an ice bath. It was a lot warmer last year. I’m still picking ice out of my ears.”
A small price for victory. “What this team accomplished this season was really special,” Dutcher said. “I couldn’t be more proud of a team or a coaching staff. … We’ve got players who have sacrificed parts of their games so we can win. Hopefully, our best basketball is still ahead of us.”
Making it even sweeter: It came against the Rebels, the closest thing to a conference rival, a school that extinguished the Aztecs’ distinction as the nation’s final undefeated team last season after a 26-0 start. Energizing the Rebels that night was SDSU’s decision to unveil the 2019-20 championship banner in the Viejas Arena rafters shortly before tipoff.
The Aztecs (20-4) didn’t cut down nets Wednesday night in Thomas & Mack or climb up to the catwalk and unfurl a banner. Instead, they showered, ate and split the roster onto two buses for the five-hour ride home in hopes of avoiding a COVID-19 outbreak from a road trip that was mandated by the conference office despite the objections of Dutcher (and UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger).
They didn’t even say their fond farewells to Thomas & Mack for another year. COVID tests permitting, they’ll be back here next week for the conference tournament (although playing on a different floor with a silhouette of a mountain range instead of The Strip).
“It’s a big feeling of relief, and joy and happiness,” said Matt Mitchell, whose 19 points moved him into sixth place on the school’s all-time scoring list. “At the same time, it’s a feeling of not being done yet, because my freshman year where we’re out in the first round (of the NCAA Tournament) and last year we didn’t get a tournament.
“This is a stone along the road, something you pick up and put in your back pocket and say, ‘We got this. We worked for this.’ But at the same time, you can’t get content or complacent.”
The New Mexico forfeits also are applied to tournament seeding, meaning the Aztecs will be No. 1. That puts
them in the noon quarterfinal next Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s playin game between Wyoming and San Jose State. Win that, and they’d get Boise State or Nevada in the semis.
The Aztecs won’t know until subsequent testing if they avoided the virus in Las Vegas, but they did escape the other two disastrous outcomes Dutcher referenced in his argument against playing: a debilitating loss, and debilitating injury.
Both those things happened the night before at Boise State, where the Broncos were outscored 13-1 to close the game and upset by Fresno State — likely crushing their hopes for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. And Abu Kigab, their emotional leader and most versatile defender, was helped off the floor in the second half with what looked like a season-ending shoulder injury.
The only Aztecs injury was before the game, a bad back that kept senior Jordan Schakel out of practice the previous two days and had Dutcher thinking he would be “doubtful” against the Rebels. It wasn’t until about 10 minutes before the tip that the 6foot-6 wing decided to try, and he admitted his back never really loosened as the game wore on.
“You can’t sit these games out,” Schakel said. “Playing for a championship is not something everybody gets to do. You just have to fight through it.”
The result: nearly his first career double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes. He went 4 of 6 behind the arc, including a couple of timely baskets when the Rebels threatened to make it
a game in the second half.
Beside his 19 points, Mitchell was the primary defender on UNLV leading scorer Bryce Hamilton, who finished with nine points on 3of-14 shooting. Nathan Mensah, who has big games when he scores an early basket, scored 22 seconds into the game and finished with 14 points — his most since early January.
Trey Pulliam had a careerhigh 18 points at UNLV last year and finished with only four Wednesday, but he controlled the game in other ways: a career-high eight assists and two steals.
UNLV (11-13, 8-9) got 32 points from David Jenkins Jr. and actually outshot the Aztecs, 39.0 to 36.4 percent. Both teams made nine 3s. The turnovers weren’t the difference, either: 12 by the Rebels, 10 by the Aztecs.
The difference: The Aztecs were 22 of 26 at the line, and the Rebels attempted only nine.
“I was not a proponent of playing this game,” Dutcher said. “But when the conference said we were going to play it, we did everything in our power to win. … To win any conference title is difficult. To do it on the road is doubly difficult, and we answered that call tonight.
“We found a way to fight our way through with our defense and our rebounding, and hang a banner again.”
The Aztecs pushed the lead to 17 in the second half, but not after some nervous moments in the first.
Jenkins, the one guy you can’t let get hot, made three 3s in the opening four minutes — none hit the rim — and the Rebels did something Boise State couldn’t, leading 9-6 after
the Broncos’ biggest margin across 85 minutes was 2-0.
Then Pulliam got two fouls and went to the bench.
Then Mensah got two fouls and went to the bench.
Then Joshua Tomaic, Mensah’s backup, got two fouls and went to the bench.
The usual next option at post is Arop, but he was out again after his vertigo returned. That meant 6-foot-7 Keshad Johnson was essentially playing center in a small lineup.
Somehow, though, the Aztecs still managed to lead 35-28 at the half and quickly pushed it into double digits with a 7-0 run that started with a 3 by the guy with a bad back. It was their 11th straight win and 11th straight in which they haven’t trailed in the second half.
“It’s very satisfying to go through everything we went through this year,” Schakel said. “Every day was the struggle with all the stuff you have to deal with. But games like this, nights like this, make it worth it — to have that moment with the guys. You work this hard just to go out and prove yourself, to just have the opportunity to play for a championship and end up coming through victorious.
“It’s special.”
Notable
SDSU won back-to-back outright regular-season conference championships for the first time in its Div. I era, which begin the 1970-71. It has won back-to-back titles before, but they were shared.
• UNLV’s first basket was a 3, extending its NCAA-leading streak of games with at least one 3 to 1,126.
Joel Embiid isn’t content with being one of the NBA’s best players. He wants more for himself and the 76ers — and it showed.
76ers 131, Jazz 123 (OT)
Embiid had 40 points and 19 rebounds and hit a tying 3pointer late in regulation, Tobias Harris scored 11 of his 22 points in overtime, and Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia beat the Westleading Utah Jazz 131-123 on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Ben Simmons added 17 points for the 76ers, who improved to 24-12.
The game included four players who will be participating in Sunday’s All-Star game in Embiid and Simmons, and Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert of the Jazz.
Embiid rose above the rest.
“Those are the matchups you want to dominate and prove we have a great team,” Embiid said.
The four-time All-Star is eager to add the NBA’s top defensive award to his mantel.
“I want to dominate on the offensive end but mainly on the defensive end,” he said.
Once again, he did both to help Philadelphia avenge last month’s loss to the Jazz.
The Jazz beat Philadelphia 134-123 on Feb. 15 in Utah when Embiid sat with a back injury. Simmons had 42 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in that game, but Jordan Clarkson hit eight 3pointers and scored 40 points for Utah.
All the stars were available for this one, and they put on a show.
Kings 123, Lakers 120: Harrison Barnes made a driving layup with 30 seconds left to give host Sacramento the lead, then made two free throws for a threepoint lead. Kyle Kuzma, who had 25 points, missed a 3pointer at the buzzer for the tie. Buddy Hield made 7 of 11 3s and led the Kings with 29 points. Dennis Schroder led the Lakers with 28 points.
Trail Blazers 108, Warriors 106: Damian Lillard made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left and drew a charging foul on Draymond Green at the other end for visiting Portland. Lillard and Carmelo Anthony led the Blazers with 22 points, while Steph Curry had 35 for the Warriors.
Nets 132, Rockets 114: James Harden had a tripledouble with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists in the first meeting with his former Houston teammates and visiting Brooklyn handed the Rockets their 13th straight loss. John Wall had a season-high 36 points for Houston, and Victor Oladipo also set his season high with 33.
Pacers 114, Cavaliers 111:
T.J. McConnell set an NBA record with nine steals in the first half and had his second career triple-double with 16 points, 13 assists and a franchise-best 10 steals, leading Indiana host Cleveland. McConnell was one off the NBA record of 11 steals set San Antonio’s Larry Kenon on Dec. 26, 1976, at Kansas City, and matched by New Jersey’s Kendall Gill on April 3, 1999, against Miami.
Mavericks 87, Thunder 78: Kristaps Porzingis had 19 points and 13 rebounds with European sidekick Luka Doncic sidelined by a back issue going into his second AllStar appearance, and Dallas beat visiting Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points for Oklahoma City.
Pistons 129, Rators 105:
Wayne Ellington scored 25 points and Detroit beat virus-depleted Toronto in Tampa, Fla., to snap a threegame losing streak. Norman Powell had 36 points for Toronto, and Kyle Lowry added 21 points.
Hawks 115, Magic 112:
Trae Young scored 32 points and hit the go-ahead free throws with eight seconds remaining as visiting Atlanta rallied from 19 down in the second half to beat Orlando. Atlanta made 9 of 13 3pointers in the fourth quarter and 21 of 45 in the game to complete their biggest comeback of the season to improve to 2-0 under interim coach Nate McMillan.
Bulls 128, Pelicans 124:
Zach LaVine capped a 36point performance with a driving layup and four free throws during the final minute, and visiting Chicago held off New Orleans.
Hornets 135, Timberwolves 102: Terry Rozier scored 31 points, Gordon Hayward added 23 and Charlotte headed into the All-Star break with an easy victory at Minnesota. The Timberwolves have lost nine in a row and 13 of 14. Minnesota is 0-5 since Chris Finch replaced Ryan Saunders as coach.