The Aztecs took the victory 73-65 over New Mexico in the 2nd matchup of the season series. These two Mountain West rivals—for the time being—squared off inside a packed Viejas Arena Tuesday night both looking for some much needed momentum.
We are able to report, that for another chapter in this rivalry, that indeed no love was lost and none was found either.
Not sure if that makes sense, but it sounds good to me. Take that editorial oversight!
San Diego State did what only the oddsmakers and ESPN’s Win probability pie chart thingy said it could—they beat the 1st place Lobos without the presence of their fantastic true freshman Magoon Gwath.
With no Gwath available due to a day-to-day hyperextended knee injury, the rest of this Aztecs Goon Squad were juiced-up and put together performances that all had something to prove.
Magoonies Never Say Die
Just coming off a tough road loss to Utah State, it was a tough season sweep at the hand of the leagues 2nd place team. Not exactly the recipe for a top contender in the NCAA tournament let alone the Conference tournament next month.
Proving they could handle the 1st place Lobos at home would even up the series and demonstrate that this team is fully capable of making something special happen come March.
But doing so with the (NO)Magoon Effect was going to prove difficult. The SDSU front-court took the task of hounding New Mexico’s talented big man Nelly Junior Joseph (6 pts, 16 rebounds) all game long and it was a job well done.
Miles Heide, Jared Coleman-Jones and Pharoah Compton combined for 30 points on their way to a handful of electrifying plays. Heide (10 pts and 7 rebounds) was active all over the court and his diving steal early on set the tone for his fellow big men to follow.
Adding Miles Heide to the staring lineup at Center was the right move dialed-up by Coach Dutcher & staff making the Aztecs bigger down on the block and putting Jared Coleman-Jones in a better position to eat up the less physical Mustapha Amzil.
“They are an elite defensive team.” said UNM Coach Richard Pitino. “We cut it to four twice and missed a couple of shots to get it closer. Their size and physicality bothered us.”
Coleman-Jones (12 pts, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) carried a swagger showing off his range of offensive tools in the bag. But it was Compton’s coast to coast slam in the face of Nelly Junior Joseph that was the highlight of the night bringing the Aztecs fans to their feet and continuing in their part of the fight.
Compton’s performance and showmanship is a much needed spark plug, but also had to be purposed at the right times as not to let unchecked emotions get out of hand. This was a chippy game back & forth, one that the SDSU coaches mastered well in earning the win.
Dent in the Armor
This win for the Aztecs ensures once again that Brian Dutcher teams don’t lose two in a row on the season. Making that more special is that New Mexico had six days to prepare for this match. Not to mention this loss for the Lobos was their 2nd in a row—having dropped one to Boise State last week—so you know they wanted this one real bad.
Donovan Dent was sensational for UNM knocking down 26 points to pair with his 7 assists. He does so much for the Lobos, but he cannot do it all alone. On the night New Mexico shot 34.4 percent from the floor, its second-lowest percentage of the season.
“It was tough because offensively only Donovan and Jovan were making shots. In the last two games our defense has taken a step back.” – Richard Pitino
On the flip side of the back court SDSU’s Nick Boyd had 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists showing again his absolute leadership. Miles Byrd put together as fine performance as ever knocking down 13 points and being very active with 9 rebounds and 3 assists.
Up next the Aztecs hit the road to their last elevation game of the season and boy it is up there. Wyoming is one of the worst teams in the league this year and is coming off a loss to Nevada.
At the moment the Aztecs are teetering between the 4th & 5th place spots with Boise State. With not much room to move around in the conference standings, if Colorado State continues it’s winning ways it’s most important that the guys take care of business and win out the last three remaining games for their own NCAA Tournament chances. The victory over New Mexico stands as a Quad-2 win and SDSU moves now from #44 to #42 at KenPom.
At Wyoming, at UNLV, and back home against Nevada for senior night is the task at hand. Perhaps some large point differential victories could help put a punctuation on the regular season that takes notice. Either way, at least for this one night the Red & Black showed they can play at their best while Magoon Gwath rehabs and hopefully rejoins for a chance at something special come March.
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