BOISE, Idaho — College basketball is a 40-minute game. You just can’t decide to suddenly start playing after 30.
Six days after maybe their best of the season in a 17-point drubbing of first-place Utah State, the Aztecs delivered their biggest clunker Tuesday night at sixth-place Boise State, an 86-77 loss in which they never led and trailed by as many as 21.
The game was played before a near-sellout at ExtraMile Arena. Suffice to say, the Aztecs didn’t go the extra mile until the finish line was out of reach. The only reason it wasn’t a double-digit L was because of a deep 3 by Reese Dixon-Waters at the buzzer as players prepared to shake hands.
“It just got out of hand,” Dixon-Waters said. “They outrebounded us by more than 20. They were playing harder than us, tougher than us. We got back in the game; we just were never able to close the gap. It was definitely our defense and our rebounding. Our offense wasn’t to blame today.”
The Aztecs trailed 22-5 out of the chute, clawed back within five, trailed by seven at the half, then fell apart in the second half and were getting 20-pieced before a proof-of-life spell averted complete embarrassment.
Senior Night and the regular-season finale is Friday night at Viejas Arena against UNLV, followed by the Mountain West tournament next week at UNLV’s arena. The Aztecs (19-10, 13-6) are guaranteed a top-four seed and first-round bye, meaning they won’t play until Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Where their opponent could be … Boise State.
Tuesday amounted to sweet redemption for the Broncos, who trailed by 24 in the first half at Viejas Arena on Jan. 3, then lost 110-107 in triple overtime. The Aztecs somehow came back from six down with 10 seconds left in the second OT to force a third, in which Jeremiah Oden made a crucial 3 despite playing with five fouls after an official erroneously signaled one for the wrong player.
The Broncos (19-11, 11-8) proceeded to lose the next three games as well, but they recovered to go 9-3 since and climb from 1-5 into sixth place. SDSU, meanwhile, was humming along at 12-2 and in first place … before losing four of five at the most inopportune time.
Boise State’s coaching staff shares elements of its game plan with boosters beforehand, and a big point of emphasis in the chalk talk was “exposing” the Aztecs on the offensive boards, noting they rank 196th nationally in preventing them.
Went exactly according to plan.
The Broncos finished with 12-2 edge on the offensive glass that they converted into a 21-3 edge in second-chance points.
SDSU offensive rebounds in the first 25 minutes: zero.
SDSU total rebounds for the entire game: 15.
“The No. 1 key to the game was rebounding, and when you get outrebounded 37-15, your chances of winning are greatly diminished,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said. “We can sit and watch tape, and we know what it is. It’s whether we can address it or not, and we didn’t get it done.”
The Aztecs had cut it to seven with three minutes to go, and Boise State missed at the other end. But, like they had all night, the Broncos rebounded their miss, and Dylan Andrews made the Aztecs pay with a dagger 3.
The other thing Boise State does well is make free throws, and the Aztecs put them on the line 33 times – and the Broncos made 26. Georgetown transfer center Drew Fielder had a career-high 36 points after going 16 of 18 at the line.
SDSU got 23 points from Dixon-Waters after he had just five in Saturday’s loss at New Mexico, his lowest scoring output in 19 games. Freshman Tae Simmons had 12 points before fouling out.
The Aztecs led by 11 in the first half on Saturday and lost, so maybe they figured they’d try a different tact: trail by 17.
Coach Brian Dutcher doesn’t like calling timeouts early in the game, no matter how bad his team is getting beat, and he didn’t again, watching the Broncos drain 3 after 3 and, when they missed, grab offensive rebound after offensive rebound.
It was 22-5 midway through the half before BJ Davis (six points) ended a 6½-minute scoring drought with a drive and left-handed layup. That ignited a 12-0 Aztecs run that should have been 14-0 when Miles Byrd (seven points) tipped away a pass at midcourt and dribbled in for an uncontested dunk.
Which he missed.
It was the third time – or is it the fourth? – that Byrd has missed an uncontested breakaway dunk. After the last one, Dutcher went public with his preference that Byrd dunk with two hands, and for a spell there Byrd did and converted them.
But he was back to the one-hand hammer that usually flies off the back rim, although this time he got denied by the front rim and landed funny, eventually hobbling to the bench.
That seemed to turn the tide back to the hosts. The Aztecs never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Frustration spilled over with 11:50 left, when Magoon Gwath (four points) chased a long rebound into the Broncos bench and had to pulled away by teammates from escalating into a wider skirmish. Officials reviewed the incident and assessed Gwath and Fielder with technical fouls.
“We fought. You wouldn’t say we gave in,” Dutcher said. “A lot of teams that give in, you’re going to go from 20 down to 30. I like our fight. I just don’t like some of the things we’re doing. We gave up 81 to New Mexico and 86 tonight, and we’re a program that prides ourselves on defense and rebounding. That’s why we’re obviously not going to win a title this year in the regular season.”
Added Dutcher: “I told them: You have to believe. You’ve got to believe you’re going to win the next game and then win three in a row next week. … You can’t go in there with one game left and the conference tournament, and start doubting ourselves. We have to accept responsibility for things we can get better at, and then fight our way through it. That’s all there is.”