Stymied in San Diego: Aztecs put the clamps on Lobos

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Lobos had Donovan Dent. And not much else.

Despite 26 points from the Lobos point guard, San Diego State's otherwise stifling defense was far too much in a 73-65 Aztecs win in front of a sold-out Viejas Arena, handing the Lobos a second-straight loss for the first time this season.

"Their physicality around the rim absolutely bothered us," UNM Lobos coach Richard Pitino said. "I think the last two games (Tuesday and last week's road loss at Boise State), we've taken a step back defensively. We rebounded the ball well. I mean, obviously Nelly (Junior Joseph) had 16, but you can't give them nine 3s. So we got to be better there.

"You know, we've got to coaching wise, we've got to coach them better, scout better, get everybody clear, because we've been playing terrific defense most of the year."

UNM falls into a tie for first place in the Mountain West standings. Utah State (24-4, 14-3) plays at Boise State on Wednesday night. The Lobos hold the tie-breaker over Utah State for the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament via sweeping the Aggies in the regular season.

Four Aztecs scored in double figures, led by Nick Boyd's 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists and star wing Miles Byrd filled the stat sheet with 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot. SDSU shot 48.1% and assisted on 16 of their 25 made baskets.

But it was the Aztecs’ defense and physicality — as is often the case — that dictated the terms of Tuesday's game, a reversal of fortune from last month in the Pit with how the Lobos' 62-48 win played out.

"New Mexico is one of the most physical defensive teams you’re going to play," San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. "I told the guys, ‘We got big-brothered in Albuquerque and we’re not going to get big-brothered at home. We’re going to come out here and meet force with force.’

"That didn’t mean New Mexico backed down at all. It just means we did a better job responding to their physicality tonight."

While UNM outrebounded SDSU 39-35 and 14-6 on the offensive glass, the Aztecs' consistently disrupted the Lobos' flow offensively, posted 10 steals, blocked eight shots and held the Lobos to 34.4% shooting (22-of-64).

While the Lobos did hit nine 3-pointers, they were just 13-of-36 (36.1%) on 2-point shots against an Aztecs team that ranks No. 5 in Division I defending the 2-point shot.

SDSU led by as many as 12 with 6:38 left in the game after an 8-0 run led by Byrd and Boyd, but could never quite shake the Lobos until the final moments.

Dent shot 9-of-20 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line and dished out seven assists. Freshman Jovan Milicevic scored 16 off the bench for the Lobos, including hitting four 3-pointers.

Outside of their 51.7% shooting and 42 points, the rest of the Lobo roster shot a combined 7-of-35 (20.0%) from the field and scored just 23 points. And the usually high-tempo Lobos, who entered the game leading the nation in fast break points at more than 17 per game were held to just 2 fast break points on Tuesday night.

"We weren't playing physical and we weren't playing defense how we usually do, to get the guys running," Milicevic said. "Not a lot of fast break points for us. Usually, we're a fast paced team, so that was a big, big impact for us."

Junior Joseph ended with six points and 16 rebounds.

Starting forward Mustapha Amzil, hampered for the past month with plantar fasciitis, keeping him out of three of the past four games, returned to the starting lineup on Tuesday and hit a 3-pointer for UNM's first points of the night.

But he, like the rest of UNM's starters other than Dent, struggled mightily to score after that. All nine Lobos who played had at least one of the teams' 13 turnovers.

BOX SCORE: San Diego State 73, New Mexico 65

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