San Diego State’s Magoon Gwath injured in crucial road loss

Well, that game sucked. Sucked all the energy for sports I had right out of my soul.

Okay that’s just a little dramatic. It sucked all the energy I had for sports on Saturday.

But still, watching the Aztecs lose 71-79 on the road to Utah State Saturday night was about as exhilarating and frustrating as any game could get. Too bad the balance of those two completely tipped over into the frustrating side of the scale when it was all said and done.

Let’s start with the frustrating shall we.

The (No) Magoon effect

Not even 3 full minutes into the game SDSU star freshman Magoon Gwath took a nasty fall to the ground under the Utah State basket. His knee buckled and his leg looked all kinds of bad to everyone watching on television.

Apparently it didn’t’ look bad enough to the three blind referees on the court.

Inexcusably a full play at the rim with an Aggie slam dunk right over where SDSU’s trainer and Gwath were positioned had already occurred. A very dangerous position to be in if you’re under the basket or running out there on the court.

Despite SDSU training staff already on the floor to attend to Gwath—it wasn’t until Coach Dutcher ran full sprint onto the court that a referee decided to blow his whistle and hit the pause button to the game.

Magoon would eventually head to the locker room but not return in this all important road game. Though he was cleared to return to the bench with an ice wrap and brace on his right knee, in that moment it felt all the season was gone and this game a lost cause.

Don’t get it twisted, Magoon Gwath leading these young Aztecs has been key in winning the last 6 of 7 games. His emergence of late was to be a big difference maker this time around as opposed to his pedestrian outing last time vs Utah State.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

Turning Point of the Game

What was meant to be was another opponent getting hot and having a ridiculous shooting night against the Aztecs. Utah State’s Akanno Dexter had himself a career night of 26 points. The Aggie who normally averages just around 9 pts per game hit a blistering 7 of 9 three point shots.

The Aztecs were led once again by Nick Boyd (15 pts, 6 assists) and BJ Davis (14 pts, 4-7 three point shots) had a terrific outing and offensive boost—that was before he fouled out of the game with just under 3 minutes left and SDSU up by one.

From that moment on it was all downhill for the Aztecs. Utah State would go on a 14-2 run to end the game. The Aztecs could not get any buckets—opting for ill advised 3’s, missed layups, and turnovers.

On the flipside, minus a 3-point shot by Iam Martinez, the entire Aggie scoring run to end the game were all determined by free throws. USU guard Deyton Albury alone knocked down 12 of 13 on his way to 18 points on the night and Ian Martinez’s 7 of 7 from the line helped earn his 18 point total as well.

It was a frustrating way to end the night to watch your opponent continuously advance the score with indefensible shots from the charity stripe. Within that same 3 minute stretch the Aztecs made 2-3 free throws—but only when the clock had 2 seconds left on it.

What It All Means

The Aztecs fall to 4th place in the Mountain West standings, one game behind Colorado State and in a tie with Boise State. Though the Aztecs have the two game series sweep over the Broncos, this missed opportunity to beat Utah State almost all but eliminates their chances of gaining that 2nd place seed in the conference tournament.

With New Mexico in town on Tuesday night it will mean a lot to the shake-up or shake-down of where SDSU fits into these standings. Not the ideal position to be in if you’re a team trying to avoid the NCAA tournament bubble.

Lastly, you do have to love this team’s fight. Back & forth through all the runs, this team stuck together. The entire bench stepped in with spirited play by Miles Heide (6 pts, 4 rebounds), Taj Degourville (8 pts, 4 rebounds), Pharaoh Compton (7 pts), and Kimo Ferrari (6 pts, 2-2 three pointers).

But not having Magoon hurt really, really badly. If Gwath is in the game there is no doubt in my mind SDSU is victorious. The defense, rebounding and scoring presence adds so much to this team’s performance.

No definitive word has been declared on the status of Magoon’s injury and what his forecast looks like for the rest of the season. For now it officially is being determined as a hyperextension, but we will await any tests or MRI results before stating about his health condition.

Additionally, Miles Byrd’s struggles cannot be ignored. A team high 33 minutes of game time and 8 pts on 2-12 shooting is a noteworthy factor to point out. Especially when 9 of those 12 attempts are all from behind the three point line.

It’s been the trend in the lack of offensive production from Byrd as of late and something the coaches have not been able to figure out with him. Shooting at just 31% from deep, Byrd is not the team’s best shooter from long distance. For the green light to stay on this bright and for this long is a head scratcher.

One area that Miles Byrd is definitely the teams best is being a free throw shooter at 83%. For a team that does not hit consistently from deep and does not attempt consistently from the free throw line, Byrd’s offensive game should be patterned towards shots that will get him there much more often than we are seeing now.

Until then, this team will continue to be absolutely exhilarating but completely frustrating.

The Aztecs next face the Lobos at home in Veijas Arena this Tuesday, February 25 at 8pm PST. The game can be heard on SDSports AM 760 and watched on CBS Sports Network.