Aztecs have no answer for New Mexico, losing in final scheduled trip to The Pit in Albuquerque.
Fast start followed by futility drops the Aztecs into a second place tie with the Lobos.
The Aztecs are changing conferences next season. This will not come soon enough as the Aztecs endured yet another loss at New Mexico’s “Pit”. The Aztecs record is 13-33 in The Pit. The depths of the season were on display Saturday as the Lobos hold on to send the Aztecs to their third loss in four games. With Utah State’s
win, the Aztecs drop into a tie with two games remaining in the season. Falling out of orbit, the Aztecs look like they will be forced to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament to ensure a NCAA tournament bid. The New Mexico crowd of 15,411, were in a frenzy, as they helped their home town team ride roughshod over the visiting team from San Diego.
The Aztecs seemed in complete control from the opening tip. Passing and tenacious defense helped the Aztecs build a lead of 11 points on several occasions. Miles Byrd started the scoring with a dunk off of a steal. Magoon Gwath made a layup for a 4-0 lead. New Mexico’s Antonio Chol answered with a three which was quickly followed by a Reese Dixon-Waters layup and a 6-3 lead. The Aztecs pushed the lead to 18-9 following three’s from Sean Newman Jr. and BJ Davis. The teams would fight for the rest of the first half as the Lobos closed with the last six points to go into break trailing 37-36. The two teams would come out in the second half and trade baskets leading to several ties. The Lobos would gain their first lead at 50-49, six minutes into the second half. From there they would control the remainder of the contest. Tomislav Buljan, a freshman from Croatia, led the Lobos in scoring with 24 points and 18 rebounds. Yes, 18 rebounds. An amazing stat that no one else even came close to replicating. Luke Haupt, a senior from San Diego added 17 more points and Jake Hall, a freshman from Carlsbad added 14 more. One could notice the talent on the Lobo side of the ball is from the San Diego area. Taking players from the Aztecs own backyard. Certainly might have been a motivation for these players to take on and beat their hometown team.
For the Aztecs, Reese Dixon-Waters came back down to earth as he only contributrred 5 points. Miles Byrd led the way for the Aztecs with 17 points on 5-10 shooting and 3-5 from beyond the arc. Magoon Gwath added 11 points as did BJ Davis, coming in off the bench. Coach Brian Dutcher used a ten man rotation with everyone getting into the scoring with the exception of Taj Degourville. The Aztecs shot 45% from the field while holding the Lobos to 39%. The Aztecs were lacking at the free throw line, hitting only 13-22 for 59%. They were also outrebounded 42-36. The eleven point first half lead was difficult to maintain as the Lobos forced the Aztecs into giving up possessions as they built a small 6 point lead, but were able to hold on. This effort weighed on Miles Byrd.
“It’s frustrating, obviously. These are the more frustrating ones than when we come in and close by 15, when you’re ahead the whole, entire first half and it’s back and forth the whole second half.”
Frustration certainly played into the eventual outcome. With 31 seconds left, Lobos guard Uriah Tenette was trapped by Elzie Harrington and Tae Simmons and appeared to drop the ball out of bounds. The official pointed New Mexico ball, but Aztec coach Brian Dutcher signaled he wanted a replay. The officials upheld the decision despite much discussion. The Aztecs struggled at the charity strip, giving up what were free points. They also struggled against Buljan, who despite being 23, is considered a freshman. The dominating play from the 6’9” 240-pound 23-year old was all the difference. The lack of blocking out, especially on the offensive board, led to repeated second efforts. It’s possible the Aztecs might play the Lobos in the conference tournament, but that is in Las Vegas and not New Mexico. They will not miss playing in the Pit. But after yesterdays loss, the only pit is the one that was left in the Aztec’s collective stomachs.
Rounding out the Saturday schedule saw Wyoming holding on against an upstart and winless Air Force team. Boise State handled Fresno State in the valley 69-53, Colorado
State had just enough to take down San Jose State 85-73 despite another 28 point game from Colby Garland. UNLV beat Nevada 85-83 in overtime, led by Dra Fibbs-Lawhorn who put up a career-high 42 points. The final game saw Utah State beat Grand Canyon 74-69, catapulting them to the top of the conference with two games remaining.
The slate of games this next Tuesday sees San Jose State travelling to rival Fresno State, Air Force hosting Grand Canyon, Nevada visiting Wyoming in Laramie and UNLV hosting Utah State. The Aztecs will be on the road against Boise State for a game broadcast on CBS Sports Network. They will finish their regular season on Friday as they host UNLV. These games are must wins to avoid dropping further in the conference standings.
