Wright: UNM vs. SDSU was high-level basketball

Memo to Brian Dutcher:

 In 1999, Arizona men’s basketball coach Lute Olson scheduled a non-conference game against New Mexico in the Pit because of the altitude. Olson thought his ‘98-99 Wildcats might wind up playing first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games in Denver (though they wound up in St. Louis, elevation 466 feet, instead), and Olson was looking for a high-altitude dress rehearsal.

And, yes Arizona lost that 1999 game at the Pit — though not because of Albuquerque’s mile-high elevation. 

And, yes, Dutcher’s San Diego State Aztecs lost to the New Mexico Lobos in the Pit on Saturday afternoon — I love a matinee, don’t you? — 81-76, in a game Dutcher has said will be SDSU’s last in Albuquerque as long as he’s the head coach at Montezuma Mesa.

Dutcher, you see, doesn’t want to schedule a non-conference game at high elevation. And beginning next season, UNM and SDSU will not be in the same conference.

That’s a shame, and I don’t mean shame on San Diego State for leaving the Mountain West Conference. New Mexico, had it been invited, would have instantly, with not one iota of shame, made the same jump to the new, reshaped Pac-12 Conference. 

But, yeah, it’s a shame fans of both schools will no longer be treated to games like Saturday’s. In a contest fraught with consequence in the Mountain West Conference race, UNM (22-7, 13-5) pulled even with SDSU (19-9, 13-5) with two regular-season games left for both teams.

And, no, San Diego State did not lose because of the elevation at the Pit. It was the elevated play of the Lobos in the game’s final 26 minutes. 

New Mexico, trailing 30-19 with 5:59 left in the first half, outscored the Aztecs 62-46 from that point on. 

Was this a matter of SDSU gasping in the Pit’s thin air? I don’t think so; the Lobos had cut the Aztecs’ lead to a single point by halftime. It was just better basketball.

"We felt like a lot of what they got early was some of our missed execution,” UNM coach Eric Olen said, noting the Lobos were beaten down the court a couple of times. “We didn’t adjust ... we blew a couple switches where they got it done.

“So we just felt like we had contributed to their success.”

As for his team’s resurgence after spotting the Aztecs that 11-point lead, Olen said, “We just talked about trying to wear them down.”

The principal wearer-downer was not the elevation, but, without question, Tomislav Buljan. The Lobos’ Croatian post player had a splendid, powerful game: 24 points and 18 rebounds, nine of those rebounds at the offensive end. 

Elevation, by any definition, isn’t what Buljan’s game is all about. Playing mostly below the rim, he uses strength, polished low-post moves and a never-quit work ethic to battle taller, springier competitors. 

“We still have a chance to win the championship,” Buljan said afterward.“I knew what I needed to give to this team to be successful.”

Success didn’t come easily for UNM against an outstanding SDSU defense. But possession after possession, the Lobos just kept working, kept fighting. After drawing nearly even by halftime, UNM took the lead at 48-47 on a pair of Luke Haupt free throws with 15:07 left.

San Diego State never led thereafter. But did they cough and wheeze their way to defeat in the High Desert?

Not at all; the Aztecs were not done.

After the Lobos grabbed a 69-63 lead on a Buljan layup, SDSU cut UNM’s margin to one on a Miles Byrd 3-pointer — Byrd’s elevation unaffected by the elevation — with 3:48 left. 

After a Jake Hall floater put UNM up 74-71, another Byrd 3 tied the game at 74. No altitude sickness here.

Then came a Haupt 3, made possible by the Lobos’ 14th of 14 offensive rebounds — that by freshman guard Uriah Tennete, the smallest man on the court, including the three game officials.

Game, set and match, as it turned out. The 77 points the Lobos had after Haupt’s 3-pointer were one more than the 76 SDSU scored on the afternoon.

Yet, the game remained in the balance until Lobos guard Deyton Albury leapt to secure an ill-advised pass from Buljan with 28 seconds left, leading to two Albury free throws, followed by a missed 3-point attempt by SDSU’s BJ Davis and a Haupt tree throw that put UNM up by four with 11 seconds left.

Davis, by the way, finished the game with 11 points — all in the first half.

Did the storied Pit elevation get to him? 

Nah. It was just basketball.