San Diego State, miraculously, still has all its limbs.
The Aztecs shouldn’t. But they do, once again trailing an unfancied opponent in the second half and once again somehow rallying for a 63-61 win against Wyoming on Saturday night that they probably didn’t deserve based on the game’s first 33½ minutes and final 11 seconds.
Last month, it was a buzzer-beating layup in overtime at Air Force. Last Tuesday, it was coming from 21 down to survive San Jose State 71-68.
Saturday’s magic trick against a bottom-tier Mountain West foe: Down nine and seemingly comatose with 6½ minutes to go, only to outscore the Cowboys 20-0 (yes, 20-0) with disgruntled Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler sitting courtside and nearly two dozen former players in attendance.
“I told them,” coach Brian Dutcher said of the alumni, “some of this gray hair is because of you, but most of it is because of this year’s team.”
And Saturday’s final 11 seconds.
The Aztecs (15-5, 8-3) were on their way not only to escaping defeat but escaping a major hit in the computer metrics because they were favored to win by 16 and they were up 11 inside 11 seconds to go.
Here’s what happened next, as unbelievable as it might sound: Wyoming, after making seven free throws all game, made eight in 2.9 seconds.
Let’s say that again: Eight free throws in 2.9 seconds.
“We were too far ahead,” Dutcher said, “and like most young teams, we thought it was over.”
It started when sophomore guard BJ Davis, who has done this over and over and over all season, fouled a 3-point shooter and sent him to the line for three free throws as Dutcher screamed, “Noooooooooo,” from the sideline.
Obi Agbim (12 points) made the first two, only for Nick Boyd to start jawing with Agbim on the line, get a technical foul and get ejected. Agbim made the final free throw from Davis’ foul, then two more for the T.
“They warned him, they warned him at our end,” Dutcher said. “They came to the bench. He must have said one more thing. I told him, he’s not the first or the last player to have that happen to, but it can’t happen again.”
The Cowboys also kept possession and inbounded to Dontaie Allen (18 points), who pump faked freshman Taj DeGourville into the air and – you guessed it – drew another foul on a 3. Allen’s three free throws cut the lead to 61-58, and DeGourville was promptly fouled.
He made the second of two, only for Agbim to drain his first 3 of the game, narrowing it to 62-61 with 1.4 seconds left.
Brown grad transfer Kimo Ferrari was fouled with .8 seconds left, made the first free throw and finally someone did something smart. Ferrari fired it at the rim, knowing as soon as the rebound was touched by a player, the clock would start and they wouldn’t have enough time to shoot – as opposed to giving the Cowboys an inbounds pass and a chance to throw it the length of the court.
Magoon Gwath was asked if Dutcher was pleased they won or steamed about the closing seconds.
“A little bit of both,” Gwath said. “He’s happy that we won, making as many mistakes as we did. But something like that cannot happen at the end of the game.”
Gwath had his third straight big game, with 14 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and six drawn fouls. Boyd had 13 points before exiting. Miles Byrd finished with 11 after another rough first half (four points, three turnovers). Miles Heide started for Jared Coleman-Jones, still sidelined with a shoulder injury, and had nine points in a career-high 28 minutes, including a couple clutch baskets in the final minutes.
But the real savior was the free throw line, where opponents had routinely outshot the Aztecs all season. Thirteen of SDSU’s points in the 20-0 run came at the line, and the Aztecs finished with six more attempts than the Cowboys and, more importantly, seven more makes (22-15).
“It’s a game of those margins,” Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks said. “You look at the box score and there’s little margins here and there – the free-throw margin.”
Wicks had written “Fearless and Physical” on the locker room whiteboard before the game.
“The big thing tonight is we were physical, but you’ve got to be physical without fouling,” Wicks said. “I’m not sure, like, there’s some ticky-tacks here and there. … For me, we wanted that game, but you’ve also got to get the whistle sometimes. Some games you get it and some games you don’t.”
Wyoming (11-11, 4-7) entered the day 178th in the Kenpom metric and 180th in the NCAA’s NET, which makes it a Quad 4 game. You can lose Quad 1s and 2s, and be fine. A Quad 3 loss is a bad but not a death knell. A Quad 4 loss is, well, more than a coffee stain on the resume.
A two-point win in a Quad 4 game isn’t ideal, but it beats getting beat – especially when you’re down 50-41 inside seven minutes to go.
“Byrd was able to wake everybody up,” Gwath said. “He brought energy to the huddle and told everybody to wake up. We definitely woke up after that.”
Added DeGourville: “We’ve got a team full of winners. We all want to win, no matter ugly or nice. We’re going to take a win however we get it.”
Dutcher’s perspective: “If patience is a virtue, I’m the most virtuous man in the county. I had to be patient again today, waiting for a 20-0 run.”
Notable
The former players introduced at halftime included all-time leading scorer Brandon Heath, Xavier Thames, Adam Seiko and Matt Bradley. They stayed on the court for the ceremony honoring radio commentator Ted Leitner’s final season calling Aztecs games.
• Butler owns a home in the county and, since he’s currently not with the Heat while awaiting a potential trade before the NBA’s Feb. 6 deadline, came to the game. He wore a San Diego Wave hat.
• The Aztecs now have a midweek bye before a two-game road trip to Colorado State and San Jose State.
• Dutcher joined Steve Fisher, Boise State’s Leon Rice and Nevada’s Steve Alford as the only coaches with 100 career Mountain West wins in conference games. He is 100-35.
• The Aztecs are plus-48 points in the last three games with Heide on the floor.
• SDSU shot only 36.7% overall and 5 of 22 (22.7%) from 3. They were 22 of 28 from the line (78.6%) after entering the game at 67.7%
