MITCHELL IMPROVISATION TURNING POINT IN LATEST WIN
His freelancing leads to a Mensah bucket late, three-point lead
Three thoughts on No. 22 San Diego State’s 62-58 win against Boise State on Saturday at Viejas Arena:
1. A senior moment
The key baskets in SDSU’s sweep of the Broncos both came with about 1:30 left in tight games.
On Thursday, it was a designed play out of a timeout that got Matt Mitchell an and-one layup for a threepoint lead. Saturday’s also involved Mitchell but was a piece of precious improvisation by a senior in the tension of likely his final game at Viejas Arena — a fitting cumulation of four years of paying attention in film sessions and then showing you can impact a game on an off-shooting day.
“I’ve got veterans on the floor that have played a lot of minutes, that have played big minutes in big games,” Dutcher said Thursday, almost presciently. “I’ve got great experience. And sometimes they have to make plays and win games. I can’t draw everything up.”
Mitchell began on the right wing but quickly cut through to the opposite block when he saw Nathan Mensah setting a ball screen for point guard Trey Pulliam and the Broncos switch, as they often did during the series. That put 6-foot-10 Mladen Armus on the 6-3 Pulliam, and 6-2 guard RayJ Dennis on the 610 Mensah.
Mitchell emptying the side allowed Pulliam to dribble to the right wing in hopes of feeding the mismatch in the post. Except Dennis did a good job fighting over Mensah and fronting him to prevent the entry pass. And Pulliam couldn’t lob over the top because Mitchell’s defender, Devonaire Doutrive, provided backside help in the lane.
Recognizing the predicament, Mitchell cut hard diagonally across the lane to the free-throw line, bringing Doutrive with him. He received the pass from Pulliam and, in one motion, lofted a lob over the top to Mensah — high-low action, in basketball vernacular — for an easy basket and a three-point lead.
“I’d been seeing it all game,” Mitchell said. “They were switching and Trey was trying to get the ball in there,
(Terrell Gomez) was trying to get the ball in there, even Jordan (Schakel) sometimes. I thought my guy maybe not seeing me come from across the court to go high-low was just a wise idea, (given) Nathan with his size and hands and touch around the rim.”
So he was freelancing? “Entirely freelancing,” Mitchell said. “I just broke off and tried to make a play.”
Dutcher: “Savvy and intelligence … that’s just players playing the right way and playing together. I couldn’t be more proud of that.”
2. Refusing to trail
Everyone knows it’s SDSU, with the accent on the D. And you hear Aztecs players talking all the time about never taking possessions off at that end of the floor.
And defense, clearly, won both games against Boise State, holding a team averaging a conference-leading 77.8 points to 63 and 58 in regulation. What really won, though, was not so much that they locked up but when they did.
The Broncos led for just 2:31 of the 85 minutes, and that was 2-0 in the second game. Eleven times in the series they had chances to take the lead in the second half or overtime. Eleven times they were denied.
That’s nine possessions plus two extra opportunities from offensive rebounds. No points, two turnovers, 0-of-9 shooting.
It becomes a psychological battle as much as a physical one, one team trying to take the lead, the other refusing to surrender it while the game, and the season, hangs in the balance.
“You have to get over the hump on one of those possessions,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said, “and we weren’t able to get it done.”
Seven came in the first game, starting when they pulled within 52-51 with seven minutes to go and forced an Aztecs turnover. Emmanuel Akot missed a 3, Abu Kigab got the offensive board and Derrick Alston Jr. missed a 3.
They had two possessions trailing 56-55. Kigab miss, Akot miss.
A botched inbounds pass gave Boise State the ball down one with 28.6 seconds left, only for the Aztecs to force a botched inbounds pass themselves.
Equally painful for Boise was what happened Saturday, heading down court trailing 5048 after Mitchell missed a free throw. Mitchell stepped into a passing lane, intercepted Alston and headed back the other way for a three-on-two break that ended with a Keshad Johnson dunk.
The Broncos had one last chance down 54-53 inside two minutes to go. But Marcus Shaver missed a 3, and on the ensuing Aztecs possession
Mitchell made his freelance play.
“It’s been the cornerstone of this program,” Rice said. “That’s why they are where they are and why they’re doing what they’re doing right now. They’re an elite defensive team and hard to score on. That’s why they’re playing so good right now.”
3. Rooting for the Lobos
Dutcher and Paul Weir became Mountain West head coaches on the same day in April 2017, Dutcher after Steve Fisher retired and Weir plucked from New Mexico State after Craig Neal was fired. Eleven months later, they met in the Mountain West Tournament championship game.
Their career arcs have gone in opposite directions since.
Dutcher is 92-30 as head coach, a beyond impressive 49-6 in the last two years. Weir is 5861, has lost 25 of his last 31 conference games and never reached the postseason — enough to get him fired Friday night.
There was no gloating from Dutcher. Coaches understand the harsh nature of the business and exude empathy.
“They’ve had a year like no other,” Dutcher said in reference to the state’s public health order that prohibited the Lobos from playing and, until recently, practicing at home. “I feel bad for everybody in their program — players, coaches. They couldn’t get a home game all year. I can’t even imagine.”
There’s another reason not to gloat: The Mountain West needs the Lobos to be good.
After the departure of BYU, Utah and TCU a decade ago, the conference relied on a triumvirate of resourced programs to carry the torch. SDSU upheld its end of the bargain, with seven NCAA Tournament appearances (a presumptive eighth last year) in 11 seasons. UNLV and New Mexico have not.
The Rebels haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2013, the Lobos since 2014. They’re currently sixth and 11th in the Mountain West, their worst combined placement in conference history.
The playbook to return the Mountain West as the nation’s best mid-major conference is simple: Have the big three all strong annually, then have a couple of the other programs with lesser resources and pedigree — Utah State, Nevada, Wyoming, Boise State, Colorado State — elevate every so often.
“Obviously, New Mexico is really important to the success of the Mountain West,” Dutcher said. “Those fans in The Pit are incredible. It’s one of the hardest places to play in the country. … Moving forward, I want to wish Paul well and I want to wish New Mexico success in picking their next head coach and finding their way back into the competition in the Mountain West.”