New Mexico routs San Diego State, and it’s The Pits – elcajon newson Elcajon News only

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Remember the San Diego State basketball team that couldn’t rebound?

It’s back.

The Aztecs struggled mightily in that department earlier this season despite a roster with six players at 6-foot-9 or taller, then seemed to solve the issue during the endless stream of practices over the semester break. And then Saturday at The Pit happened.

New Mexico wasn’t shooting particularly well, but you don’t need to when you take 19 more shots than your opponent. The result: a 62-48 New Mexico win on national TV that put the Aztecs 2½ games behind the Lobos (14-3, 6-0) in the Mountain West race.

There’s still a long way to go, especially with a 20-game conference schedule for the first time this season, but SDSU won’t compete for the title if it can’t play better a mile above sea level or rebound better at any elevation.

Last year’s team struggled in the six games at 4,500 feet or above, losing five of them.

This edition didn’t look much better, quickly trailing by double digits coming off a pair of impressive wins at lower elevations – 76-68 at Boise State last Saturday and 67-38 at home against Air Force on Wednesday despite trailing by 12 early.

The “OR” column on the stat sheet told you all you needed to know: 18-3, Lobos.

Second-chance points: 14-1, Lobos.

Halftime shots: 39-22, Lobos.

First-half points: 20, the fewest by the Aztecs in 93 games.

Total points: 48, their fewest since a 45-43 home win at Fresno State in 2023.

The Aztecs (10-4, 3-2) briefly pulled within five in the opening moments of the second half, then surrendered two offensive boards on the next possession that the Lobos converted into a corner 3-pointer.

A couple minutes later, SDSU trailed by 12 and that was pretty much that.

As the final seconds ticked off, New Mexico students chanted, “Who’s your daddy?”

Part of the issue was scheme. If you take one thing away on defense, you expose yourself in other areas and the game becomes whether the offensive team can exploit them.

The Aztecs, as they often do, opted to switch all ball screens in an effort to prevent New Mexico point guard Donovan Dent – the front-runner for Mountain West Player of the Year averaging 19.3 points and 6.9 rebounds – from turning the corner and get straight-line drives to the basket. That much worked in the first half, holding Dent to four points.

But that meant a guard was now covering a Lobos big. And to do that, they front to deter the easy post entry and invite the far more difficult over-the-top pass.

The problem: The big now has inside position under the basket for the rebound.

And if the ball does get entered, then you’re forced to send a second defender to help the undersized guard. The ball gets kicked out and rotated for an open 3.

New Mexico exploited all of that – offensive boards, second-chance points, kick-out 3s.

Of course, the Aztecs weren’t much better at the other end, either. They didn’t make a perimeter shot until 3:43 left in the first half. They shot five air balls. They missed layups. They couldn’t get to the free-throw line.

The only difference from last year’s 88-70 spanking on national TV at The Pit was that they didn’t blow a 12-point lead.

They led 2-0 and 4-2 this year, then the Lobos went on a 12-0 run and really never looked back.

It was always going to be big ask, though, taking such a young team (without injured senior guard Reese Waters) into The Pit and elevation for the first time. Seven members of the nine-man rotation had never experienced the crazed Lobos fans, and four had never played at altitude (and only one had played extended minutes above 4,500 feet).

And they looked the part: sluggish, discombobulated, out of rhythm, out of sorts.

New Mexico put a bigger body on 6-7 Miles Byrd in 6-9 Filip Borovicanin, but Byrd got loose in the second half for back-to-back 3s and finished with a team-high 14 points.

Jared Coleman-Jones had 10. No one else had more than seven. Starting guards Nick Boyd and BJ Davis were a combined 2 of 14.

Dent got going in the second half and finished with a game-high 16 points to go with five assists, slightly under his Mountain West-leading averages. Tru Washington added 13, and Mustapha Amzil had 10.

Notable

Next up: a pair of home games against Colorado State (Tuesday) and UNLV) Saturday … The team flew commercial to Albuquerque and, for the first time this season, took a charter home. With another game Tuesday, players won’t have a day off until Wednesday … After last year’s highly criticized officiating performance from a crew with little or no experience at The Pit, a veteran crew was assigned Saturday: Kelly Pfeiffer, Larry Scirotto and Deldre Carr … Byrd was attended to by athletic trainer Sergio Ibarra midway through the first half and hobbled off but returned to the game.