San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Chasing perfection comes to an end for Aztecs
History put up an air ball. The San Diego State basketball team — the No. 4 Aztecs, the previously unbeaten Aztecs, the positioned-to-be-a-no. 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament Aztecs, the piquingamerica’s-interest Aztecs — faced its mortality.
For the first time in 27 games, it blinked.
UNLV hijacked the hysteria Saturday during a stunning, 66-63 script-changer at Viejas Arena. The loss to a .500 team San Diego State had beaten in 16 of the last 17 meetings delivered skepticism directly to doubters’ doorsteps.
Many have argued this team was a paper tiger, roaring in a balsa-wood conference. Many refused to buy in, to bite, to believe the 26-0 record coming in was built of sound, lasting timber.
Were they right? After losing at home to a league rival they’d bullied for so long, the question intrigues.
“We tasted defeat for the first time — and it didn’t taste very good,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said. “... Now, we’ll see how we respond to it.”
So much, bruised in a blink. Potentially, the No. 1 seed. For sure, the chance to become the first to sprint through the Mountain West unbeaten. Without doubt, a dimming spotlight so rare at a place like Montezuma Mesa.
Credit the team sharing the ball, hitting clutch shots, defending like a mother bear, hustling like it was the one
chasing the top line on a regional bracket. Credit energy from the tip, grit and greasy elbows. Credit UNLV.
“It’s a really great win for our program,” UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger said.
The Aztecs, the ones who trademarked those qualities this season, decided to offer a hearty, helping hand. They clanked from 3 (29.6 percent). They clanked from point-blank range. They clanked too much at the line.
The unselfish, sharing Aztecs saw a page being ripped from their own book. The 15-14 Rebels steamrolled San Diego State in bench scoring, by a staggering total of 26-4. It’s fair, too, to question the wisdom of raising the conference title-winning banner during pregame — offering the loftiest bulletin-board material of all.
“They’ve had a historic year,” Otzelberger said. “Is there a chance it got talked about in our locker room before the game? Certainly, but I seem to forget what they said.”
In the end, though, the loss was far more than mental.
The Rebels stormed in front by 14, just the third time the Aztecs had faced a double-digit deficit all season. In the other two games — against Utah State and now-no. 20 Iowa — they clawed back and won by double digits. Not this time.
“It’s kind of a reality check,” said forward Matt Mitchell, who finished as one of just three Aztecs in double figures with 13 points. “It shows we’re not invincible.”
Chasing perfection rarely resembles a Parisian runway stroll. The potholes, the near-misses, the stumbles and scars, extract a price for fist-fighting with history night after night.
Sometimes, the boxer’s nose looks like hamburger — especially after 27 rounds. So, what do we make of these suddenly earth-bound Aztecs?
The national amplification was picking up steam by the bucket. No team had sewn up an outright regular-season title with a quartet of games remaining since some guy named Steph Curry with Davidson in 2007-08. No team had sidestepped every pitfall to navigate a Mountain West season without a single blemish. Heady times, these have been.
Reporters from USA Today and Washington Post watched Saturday. For the home finale Tuesday, The New York Times and Sports Illustrated were scheduled to hop aboard the wagon. In recent weeks, Dutcher has appeared on the national radio shows of Jim Rome and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“For every one we do (on radio),” Senior Associate Athletic Director Mike May said before tipoff, “there’s 10 we turn down.”
Now, there’s a new hill to climb. A quieter hill. Answers
await.
To understand the sting of perfection erased, all someone had to do was glance at point guard Malachi Flynn during the postgame press conference. As Dutcher spoke, Flynn stared straight ahead as if cutting diamonds with his gaze.
Flynn, who scored a game-high 24 points and nearly willed his team back from an 11-point deficit with 3:59 to play, shotfaked a Rebels defender for a 3-pointer that cut it to one with 14.5 seconds left. He missed a 3 to tie with 5 seconds left. Mitchell picked off a pass for a halfcourt heave at the buzzer, but it sailed wide right.
The team maestro, a man of many basketball skills and few words, mustered even fewer.
“It doesn’t feel very good,” Flynn said.
The loss, if perhaps another follows, could end up a blessing in dented disguise. If the Aztecs slide to a No. 2 seed in the West Regional at some point, the road becomes more manageable.
That would put a trip to Los Angeles in the cards, if the Aztecs were to survive opening weekend. That’s a chore list anyone would choose, rather than the chance of facing Duke at Madison Square Garden, the Blue Devils’ home away from home.
Trust in that, no matter the temporary pain, no matter the sting of the moment, now that perfection has exited the arena.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” Mitchell said.
No one remembers your first loss. Only your last.