San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
26-AND-OH-NOOOOO
Frenzied comeback falls short as Aztecs suffer first loss of season to UNLV after raising MW title banner
UNLV 66
No. 4 Azte cs 6 3
The bright side: Sergio Ibarra can shave now.
The athletic trainer for San Diego State’s basketball team hasn’t since the start of the season, got superstitious and let the beard grow until the Aztecs lost. It quickly passed Abraham Lincoln stage, moved into Fidel Castro territory and was approaching a guy in a backwoods cabin writing a manifesto.
No more. He’ll no longer be unshaven because the Aztecs are no longer undefeated.
The nation’s fourth-ranked team lost 66-63 on Saturday against maybe the least likely culprit, a UNLV team that they’d defeated in 16 of the last 17 meetings and by an average of 26 points in the last four at Viejas Arena.
“Well, we tasted defeat for the first time, and it doesn’t taste very good,” coach Brian Dutcher said as his team fell to 26-1 overall and 15-1 in the Mountain West. “Anyone who has been saying that they thought a loss would be good for the Aztecs, we don’t feel that way at all. We wanted a perfect sea- son. But it didn’t happen and that’s just college basketball.”
“It’s kind of a reality check,” a somber Matt Mitchell said. “It shows that we’re not invincible.”
But all the elements for an epic upset were present, like atmospheric conditions aligning to produce a tornado: A gutty Rebels team that got hot behind the arc in the first half; a whistle-happy officiating crew that according to one metric was among the weakest to work an SDSU game all season; and an Aztecs team that has been loose all year and maybe was a tad too casual Saturday.
Then there was Friday afternoon’s practice at the JAM Center, which the men had to share with the women’s team (you could barely hear the coaches, it was so loud in there) because a Miranda Lambert concert was in Viejas Arena.
There also was this: Hanging a conference title banner for this season a few minutes before tipoff against your rival.
“We took it in a disrespectful way,” said UNLV senior guard Elijah Mitrou-long, who had 19 points and went 4 of 4 from the line in the final 20 seconds. “But
at the end of the day they can do anything they want. It’s their home court.”
UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger: “Is there a chance we had a talk about it in the locker room pregame? I seem to forget what we said.”
Whatever Otzelberger told them, it appeared to provide the requisite motivation and focus. The Rebels (15-14, 10-6) led by 12 at intermission after shooting a torrid 57.7 percent (6 of 13 on 3s), by 14 midway through the second half, by 11 still at the final media timeout with 3:59 left.
And then hung on as the only unbeaten team among the 353 in Division I frantically tried to stay that way, making only one basket over the final 10:44 (and that was desperation floater by Mitrou-long at the shotclock buzzer). With 14.5 seconds left, the Aztecs somehow were within one after a deep 3 by Malachi Flynn.
Mitrou-long was fouled with 11.5 seconds left and made both free throws. Flynn tried to tie it with an even deeper 3, but it bounced off the rim for a UNLV ball with 3.3 seconds to go. Mitchell stole a 60-foot inbounds pass and hoisted a halfcourt prayer at the buzzer that clanked off the backboard.
But that’s not what turned 26-0 into 26-1. The sins of the first 35 minutes did.
The Aztecs shot 38.9 percent overall and were 8 of 27 on 3s. Only six players scored — the starters and Aguek Arop with four points off the bench — and they finished with more turnovers (12) than assists (nine). Flynn had 24 points but was 4 of 13 beyond the arc. KJ Feagin had five points and four turnovers. Yanni Wetzell had seven points, struggled to score in the low post despite no double team, was 1 of 6 at the line and was not on the floor for the final 2:46.
Their 25 first-half points, thanks to 2-of-12 shooting behind the arc, matched a season low. The nine assists were one off their season worst from the miracle win against San Jose State on Dec. 8.
“We were just missing shots,” Mitchell said. “We weren’t connected on offense as well as we should have been or as well as we have been all year.”
It was this kind of night: UNLV guard Amauri Hardy had an 18-footer bounce four times on the rim and go in. Flynn had a routine layup roll all the way around and come out.
Hardy finished with 17 points after getting just two against Feagin’s defense in the first meeting.
“I watched a lot of film,” Hardy said. “I actually did a lot of meditating because I feel like last game I kind of took myself out of the game … And I took from what I did last game and didn’t do it this game. I came in with a different plan of attack.”
The big question now is how much this hurts the No. 1 in the NCAA’S NET metric to lose … at home … against No. 121. Does it drop the Aztecs off the No. 1 seed line for the NCAA Tournament? And if it doesn’t, does it condemn them to being shipped to the East Regional in New York for the tournament’s second weekend even if they win out?
And if they lose again, perhaps in the regular-season finale at Nevada or in the conference tournament, can they fall further than a 2 seed?
The answer? We’re about to find out.
“Time will tell,” said Dutcher, whose team hosts Colorado State on Tuesday for Senior Night. “The only thing we can control is our own performance. We can’t control where people decide to put us in the poll or where they think we should be seeded us in the tournament. All we can control is winning games, and if we win games the rest of that will take care of itself.
“I’ve said all year, even though we hadn’t lost a game, even if we did that this team is built the right way. They’re connected. Their chemistry is great. If there’s a team able to handle defeat, this one is probably as good as any.”
Notable
Because Rhode Island and Davidson went into overtime, CBS Sports Network didn’t join SDSU-UNLV until 7:43 left in the first half
The officiating crew of Tom O’neill, Casey Mcclellan and Nate Harris whistled 42 fouls. Each team shot 19 free throws (and made 13). Each also had one player foul out (Jordan Schakel for SDSU, Cheikh Mbacke Diong for UNLV).
For much of the second half, Dutcher went small with the 6-foot-6 Arop at center. For long stretches, neither team had a player taller than 6-6 on the floor.
Trey Pulliam had 18 points on 6 of 6 shooting in the first game. And zero points Saturday after taking only one shot in 15 minutes.