ALBUQUERQUE, N.M,ALBUQUERQUE, N.M, — When San Diego State makes its annual visit to New Mexico and The Pit, the Aztecs have a tradition. At the end of the practice, players try bowling a basketball up the cement ramp leading to the locker rooms.
It’s not as easy as it might sound. The narrow ramp has a steep incline, with walls on either side. And it’s 60 yards long.
But it’s hard to roll a ball that has lost all of its air, which is the figurative description of what happened to the No. 19 Aztecs on Saturday afternoon in a national CBS telecast. SDSU raced to a 12-point lead and then completely deflated in what devolved into an ugly 88-70 loss marred by multiple technical fouls, flagrant fouls and video reviews.
“The game got away from us,” coach Brian Dutcher said, “and we couldn’t get it back under control.”
For the Lobos (14-3, 2-2), Saturday’s win helped sooth bitter memories of last year’s game here and Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beating 3 that enveloped one of college basketball’s rowdiest venues in an eerie silence.
For the Aztecs (14-3, 3-1), it ended a seven-game win streak — three straight on the road — along with any designs of taking an early lead in the Mountain West race. And it doesn’t get any easier from here.
A 15-2 Nevada team that got votes in last week’s Associated Press poll comes to Viejas Arena on Wednesday. On Saturday they play at Boise State, where they have lost five of the last six.
The Aztecs team that played the opening 14 minutes should be fine. The one that played the final 26 — and finished the game with its lowest points per possession (.91) of the season four days after its best — might be in trouble.
“They played really well, and they have a great fan base here that keeps us on our toes the entire game,” said sophomore Miles Byrd, who had a career-high 13 points in 19 minutes off the bench. “There were a few borderline calls we didn’t like, and it kind of took our focus out of the game.
“We just have to come together better and tell each other to calm down, that we’re in a position that we like. They were able to capitalize when we were a little lackadaisical.”
That was a polite way of saying the three-man officiating crew had trouble keeping control of the game. They whistled three flagrant fouls and three technical fouls (and a fourth that they retroactively erased), and the game lost any semblance of flow with their frequent trips to the video monitor, perhaps cognizant that John Higgins, the head of the Western Basketball Officiating Consortium, was in attendance.
Dutcher rarely criticizes officials in media interviews, but he did point out that Jaedon LeDee went from shooting 19 free throws four days earlier at San Jose State to three Saturday.
“I would never make an excuse with the officiating,” Dutcher said, “but I just know Jaedon getting to the line is important for our success.”
LeDee finished with 15 points and six rebounds after 31 and 10 against the Spartans. Part of that was a vastly improved Lobos defense that collapsed in the lane, blocking 11 (yes, 11) shots in the first half alone and 14 for the game. Five came against LeDee.
The previous high against the Aztecs this season was five. Opponents in the previous seven games swatted one, two, two, two, one, three and zero.
SDSU made 13 of its first 24 shots … and 13 of its final 40.
New Mexico made 7 of its first 23 shots … and 23 of its final 45.
“I thought we played a competitive first half,” Dutcher said. “Our game plan looked good. They shot 35 percent in the first half. We tried to pack the paint and make them make 3s and tough pull-ups. They didn’t make any. In the second half, it seems like they made every one of them.”
It also didn’t help that the Lobos attempted 11 more free throws, or on the occasion that the Aztecs did get to the line, they couldn’t capitalize (11 of 20).
Jaelen House, the animated 6-foot point guard whom Aztecs fans love to hate, led the Lobos with 26 points after making four 3s and going 8 of 8 at the line. Jamal Mashburn had 19, and true freshman forward JT Toppin added 17 points and 16 rebounds (despite going 1 of 10 from the line).
SDSU got 31 of its 70 points from the bench. Its starters not named LeDee had seven, six, six and five.
Even so, the Aztecs crafted a dream start, gradually building a 12-point lead by making shots and not turning it over — not once, in fact, in the opening 13-plus minutes.
The Lobos, meanwhile, were shooting like the fan in the promotion during a timeout. A fan is blindfolded and has 30 seconds to make a free throw, with the crowd instructing which way to adjust, left or right, long or short.
He airballed one left. The crowd told him to shoot right. He airballed farther left.
And then?
It was like two different teams were playing, suddenly. The Aztecs assumed the role of the blindfolded fan, the Lobos assumed the role of the Aztecs.
Over the next five minutes, the Aztecs missed 7 of 8 shots, had five turnovers and clanked the front end of a one-and-one free throw.
Score over the first 14½ minutes: SDSU 35, New Mexico 23.
Score over the next five minutes: New Mexico 17, SDSU 0.
Include the first 14 minutes of the second half, and the Aztecs were outscored 50-19 over a 20-minute stretch.
A year ago, the Aztecs trailed by 13 in the second half and came back to win.
There was no comeback this time.
“It’s a game of runs,” Dutcher said. “We just couldn’t get a run and stop enough of theirs to get back into the game. And as the margin grows, the basket looks bigger. So shots they weren’t making earlier in the game, when you’re 16 or 18 ahead the basket looks the size of the ocean and everything goes in.
“If we could have cut the margin to single digits, maybe they would have struggled to make a few of those. But once you get that kind of lead and start rolling, it’s hard to stop.”
Notable
Next up: Nevada at home on Wednesday (8 p.m., CBS Sports Network) … The announced crowd of 15,437 is largest since renovations reduced The Pit’s capacity in 2009 … With 12 points, Darrion Trammell ed 1,500 for his career, one of two active Division I players under 6-0 to hit the milestone (Cal’s Jalen Cone is the other) … New Mexico’s 17-0 run in the first half was its largest in Richard Pitino’s three-year tenure as head coach …
Micah Parrish committed two fouls in just four first-half minutes and went to the bench. He fouled out with two minutes left after receiving a technical foul jawing with House … Byrd and Jay Pal were each whistled for flagrant fouls. The Lobos had two technicals and a flagrant … New Mexico plays at the quickest tempo in the Mountain West and had a 24-9 edge in fast-break points … The Lobos are now 7-2 in their last nine home games against ranked opposition. Both losses are against SDSU.
