LAS VEGAS – The basketball team that can’t seem to do anything the easy way is not doing it the easy way.
After building a slight cushion under its NCAA Tournament prospects following more than a month sitting on the bubble, San Diego State likely returned to it with a 74-67 loss against UNLV on Tuesday night before an announced crowd of 5,393 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“Tough, tough loss,” guard Miles Byrd said. “A lot on the line. We’re well aware we needed to come out and get this one done.”
Most leading bracketologists had the Aztecs as a 10 seed entering the week. Getting swept in the season series by a Rebels team with metrics in the 90s (and missing its leading scorer) probably drops them a line to 11, which is where the last four NCAA at-large berths typically reside. It’s not a comfortable place.
That means a few things.
It means they will take a metrics hit after being favored by three points and losing by seven (already the Kenpom metric dropped them from 42 to 48).
It means Saturday night’s regular-season finale against Nevada at Viejas Arena is must-win just to stay there.
It means the Aztecs (20-8, 13-6) could be headed to the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, for a play-in game on the Tuesday or Wednesday after Selection Sunday for a spot in the main bracket.
It means, if they don’t secure the Mountain West’s automatic berth by winning the conference tournament next week in Las Vegas, they’ll be sweating out “bid stealers” – teams not worthy of an at-large berth who win their conference tournaments and bump everyone down a notch on the bubble. (Last year, there were five, knocking the bottom five teams projected to make the tournament completely out of it.)
And it means they’re almost certainly headed to the 4-5 quarterfinal in the Mountain West tournament a week from Thursday, likely against Boise State or Colorado State – two surging teams eager to supplant SDSU in the NCAA Tournament. That game also might be a must-win.
Said coach Brian Dutcher: “We have to win games. We have to see if we can answer the call, bounce back and find a way to play at our best at home on Senior Night against Nevada.”
The Aztecs didn’t play quite as poorly as they did in the first meeting, a 76-68 Rebels win at Viejas Arena on Jan. 18 that was their second there in the last 11 trips and just the fourth in the last 27 encounters at any venue.
But they didn’t play as well as they have the last few weeks and clearly missed injured forward Magoon Gwath, with their three other bigs having three fouls each just minutes into the second half. And they couldn’t stop Julian Rishwain, a 6-foot-5 senior guard in his sixth college season at his fourth different school.
Rishwain had a career-high 26 points on 9 of 13 shooting overall and 6 of 9, notably, behind the 3-piont arc. His previous best was 25 back in 2021, against BYU when he played for USF.
“Six years, it all just came together for this game,” said Rishwain, who also played for Boston College and Florida, and endured several serious injuries. “It felt great. My family was all here, and I showed out.”
The Rebels (17-13, 11-8) went with a seven-man rotation without star point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., who had 21 points in the first meeting but has missed three straight games with a shoulder injury. Rishwain played all but 53 seconds. Jalen Hill played 37½ minutes despite foul trouble. Jalen Bedford played 29½ minutes off the bench, also in foul trouble.
The Aztecs went with a 10-man rotation … and were clearly the more exhausted team.
“I thought we looked tired at times,” Dutcher said. “I just thought we didn’t look energetic. … That’s not taking anything away from UNLV. They played great. They played good defense and they played really good offense. I just thought we looked fatigued tonight for the first time in a long time.”
UNLV last played Friday at home and had three days to focus on the Aztecs. SDSU played Saturday at Wyoming and planned to charter home that night. Instead, a mechanical issue on the plane forced the team to spend an extra night in Laramie and not return until Sunday, which wiped out practice that day and essentially gave them a one-day prep before heading to Las Vegas.
“You definitely felt that,” Byrd said, “exhausted the past two days, especially being caught in Laramie an extra day when we were supposed to get home, get a good night’s sleep in our own beds.”
Byrd played 36 minutes, just under his career high, and finished with a historic line of 15 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks – the first Mountain West player in history with at least those totals.
But he also went 2 of 10 behind the 3-point arc, which is where this game was ultimately won and lost.
The Aztecs were 7 of 29 (24.1%). The Rebels were 12 of 24, doubling their average makes.
It also didn’t help that the Aztecs were 12 of 20 at the line after going 17 of 30 at Wyoming on Saturday. Over the past two games, that’s a dismal 58%. (For perspective, the worst team in Division I this season shoots 59.8%.)
Four Aztecs scored in double figures: Nick Boyd (19), Byrd (15), BJ Davis (10) and Miles Heide (10).
They also had advantages in most specialty categories: points off turnovers, points in the paint, second-chance points and fast-break scoring.
But the great equalizer in basketball, as Dutcher constantly reminds everyone, is the 3-point shot, and Rishwain and Jaden Henley were a combined 10 of 15.
“They made some step-backs, some tough 3s,” Dutcher said. “When the ball is going in like that, it’s tough to win.”
The Aztecs were 16-1 this season when leading at the half, and they led 34-32.
But UNLV, which has won six of its last seven, quickly retook the lead in the second half and didn’t relinquish it over the final 10 minutes. The Aztecs closed to two with 3:20 left but missed a pair of 3s on their next two possessions and soon were down by seven.
“I think we just drop it,” Byrd said of the loss. “As much as you need these games to learn from, we need to get together as a team, talk, see what we think we’re capable of this year. Go home, get a rest day tomorrow, get our bodies right, attack practice on Thursday.
“As much as you want to dwell on these things, you can’t. We’re onto the next one. Wish we could get this one back, but we still have the tournament here in a week. We’re not done. The season is nowhere near done. And we’re still confident as a group.”
Notable
The last time UNLV swept the season series was 2013. The Aztecs lost to the Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center for only the third time in the last 17 games here … For the second straight game, SDSU did not get a high-level officiating crew. This one had Amy Bonner (who had a controversial non-call late in the Aztecs’ game at San Jose State that nearly cost them the win), John Floyd (who primarily works the MAC, Horizon and Summit leagues in the Midwest) and Ian Caldwell (who is No. 241 in the Kenpom’s referee rankings) …
The Aztecs had a first-half basket removed after a video review during a subsequent timeout. Bonner initially called goaltending on the Rebels … UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in 1,257 straight games, an NCAA record. Whenever the Rebels make their first 3 at home, the arena announcer calls out the new record … SDSU’s bench scored only nine points, the first time in 14 games it didn’t hit double figures. It was averaging 23.5 points over the previous four games.
