Aztecs, with ‘something to prove’ on home court, top New Mexico 81-70 in Mountain West showdown

Practice? Who needs practice?

The San Diego State basketball team had maybe its worst practice of the season, maybe in years, on Thursday ahead of the Friday night showdown against New Mexico. The scout team was dominating. Shots were clanking off the rim, if they indeed hit it. Players couldn’t keep hold of the ball. Coaches were yelling.

“We couldn’t beat anybody today,” coach Brian Dutcher lamented afterward, shaking his head. “Good thing the game isn’t today.”

The turnovers remained a problem with, gulp, season-high 20, but the other lapses magically vanished for arguably the biggest game of the season, an 81-70 win against nemesis New Mexico in front of another (really, really loud) sellout at Viejas Arena.

“That’s one of the most electric games we’ve had in here,” said sophomore forward Elijah Saunders, who was electric himself with a personal 8-0 run in a mere 52 seconds to put away the Lobos. “It’s been a battle with New Mexico. We had something to prove on our home court.”

That makes it 19 straight at home, the longest active streak in Division I. And it avenges their lone loss here in the past 36 games, 76-67 last year against New Mexico and animated, agitating guard Jaelen House – or 755 days since someone else won in the 12,414-seat venue.

San Diego State’s Lamont Butler tips the ball away from New Mexico’s Mustapha Amzil.

(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The 11-point win, six more than projected, pushes the Aztecs (20-6, 9-4) to No. 15 in the NET metric and puts them in the conversation when the NCAA Tournament selection committee announces its current top 16 projected seeds at 9:30 a.m. PST on CBS.

It also keeps them in second place behind Utah State (9-3) in the Mountain West entering Tuesday night’s game in Logan. If the Aggies lose Saturday at Colorado State, the only other undefeated team at home in conference play, SDSU will be in a first-place tie with five games to go.

“Either way, we’ll be playing for first place on Tuesday in Logan,” Dutcher said, “and that’s a great place to be this time of year.”

The final score doesn’t tell you this was a three-point game midway through the second half, and the Lobos (20-6, 8-5) had three possessions to tie. But they failed to score on any of them, and Lamont Butler flipped the momentum – and reignited the crowd – by picking House and going coast-to-coast for a layup.

Then Saunders made a 3. And another 3. And a flying one-handed dunk on the break on a lob from Miles Byrd, his roommate.

And that was pretty much that.

“You kept waiting for them to make the run, because you know how talented they are,” said Dutcher, whose team led by 11 at intermission and by 13 early in the second half. “When they finally made it, we were able to withstand it. And that was really, really fun to watch.”

The Lobos found out what happens when a) you don’t actively double team LeDee and b) officials actually blow their whistle when he’s mercilessly hacked in the paint. After shooting just three free throws and drawing five fouls from an inexperienced officiating crew in the 88-70 loss at New Mexico last month, he shot 11 and drew 10 with a veteran crew Friday – finishing with 23 points and a career-high four steals.

“LeDee is a force,” New Mexico coach Richard Pitino said, “and he’s getting stronger and tougher and posting up harder. He reminds me of Zach Edey (at Purdue). He just makes you foul him. ... He’s one of the best players in the country.”

San Diego State’s Lamont Butler scored after a steal against New Mexico.

(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Butler added 13, 11 in the second half. Saunders had 12. Byrd became the first Aztecs player since at least 1996-97 to record four or more blocks blocks and six or more steals in a game. And Jay Pal, a surprise starter in place of Reese Waters, had six points, seven rebounds and three steals as the Aztecs shot a season-high 56.9 percent overall and 7 of 17 behind the 3-point arc.

Another crazy stat: The Lobos had a record 14 blocks in the first game … and zero Friday.

One more stat: SDSU had 20 assists to six for New Mexico.

“That’s a pretty lopsided stat,” Pitino said.

House, the man people love to hate, drained a 3 on the opening possession and turned to scream at the student section that was already hounding him. He finished with 22 points and four steals but five turnovers.

San Diego State’s Jaedon LeDee dunks the ball against New Mexico.

(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Freshman JT Toppin had another double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds). Donovan Dent started after rolling an ankle on the final play of Tuesday’s 83-82 win at Nevada and had 11 points. But Jamal Mashburn Jr. had only two, 13 below his season average, on 1 of 10 shooting against an Aztecs defense that switched all ball screens to keep a body in front of the shooters.

Dutcher hinted that they might need another lineup change after a string of slow starts, outscored 58-25 in the opening five minutes of the previous five games. And he did it, going with the new combination of Butler, Darrion Trammell, Micah Parrish, Pal and LeDee to give them more size. Waters, who was the Pac-12’s Sixth Man of the Year at USC but started 23 times this season, came off the bench for eight points.

It’s the fourth different starting group in the last six games.

“They are such a good rebounding team,” Dutcher said of the Lobos, “that we felt we needed some length with Jay Pal out there, to try to neutralize some rebounding they really hurt us a lot in the first game. We’ve shaken the lineup up a lot this year and will probably continue to shake it up to try to find out what’s the best matchup for the team we’re playing next.”

It worked, sort of. The Aztecs still trailed after five minutes but only 10-7.

San Diego State’s Darrion Trammell guards New Mexico’s Jaelen House.

(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The reshuffled rotation did seem to give them a boost, though, and a 20-4 run midway through the first half built a double-digit lead.

The Lobos’ shooting improved in the second half and they trimmed a 13-point deficit to seven, then five, then three. But they never got closer, and Viejas Arena took over from there.

“Every time I think it’s the best crowd of the year, the next one shows up and it’s better,” Dutcher said. “They were here early today because it was a Friday 7 o’clock game. Colorado State (on Tuesday), they were phenomenal but they couldn’t get here with traffic and the game at 6. When we came out tonight, every seat was filled and ready to go.

“We’re in the shape we’re in because we have a great home court advantage and we’ve taken advantage of it.”

Byrd was asked if he knew they’d turn it over 20 times against New Mexico, would they still win?

“We had Viejas behind us,” he said, “so I was confident.”

Notable

Next up: Tuesday at Utah State (6 p.m. PST, CBS Sports Network). It is the fourth of four straight Quad 1 games. After that, the Aztecs close with four Quad 2 or lower games … Dutcher has not won at least 20 games in all seven seasons as head coach … A veteran Mountain West officiating crew worked the game: Michael Reed, Eric Curry and Michael Irving … There were three technical fouls in the game – on Parrish, New Mexico’s Tru Washington and Lobos coach Richard Pitino. It was the second straight game the opposing coached got a T … It was the sixth straight game that SDSU has trailed after five minutes … New Mexico was minus-1 in House’s 34 minutes, best on the team among those who logged more than four minutes … Bench scoring: 25-15, SDSU … The Aztecs led for 33:09. There was only one tie and one lead change.