One botched inbound play from New Mexico, and undefeated San Diego State survives another one.
The opportunity to hand the Aztecs their first Mountain West loss and close to within one game in the standings fell a play short Saturday afternoon at Viejas Arena in San Diego as the Lobos dropped a heartbreaker 78-71.
UNM held a five-point edge in a hard-fought game with 22 seconds left, following a clutch 3-pointer by sharpshooter Elijah Brown. SDSU’s Winston Shepard then sank a layup at the other end to cut the game to one possession.
Lobo Cullen Neal dropped back with Brown and Xavier Adams jockeying with Aztec defenders in a full-court press. Adams dashed forward toward Neal but as he fed Adams the ball, Adams crossed over the baseline and caught the ball. The in-bounds play was ruled illegal and UNM lost possession.
Adams had one foot over the line, but officials ruled Adams was not in an “established out-of-bounds status.” Later Saturday night, Mountain West officials ruled the call was incorrect.
“The New Mexico player did get one foot down (two feet are not required) out-of-bounds before receiving the ball, thus establishing his location in accordance NCAA Basketball Playing Rules 4.23.1.a and 7.1.1. By rule, the officials were not permitted to go to the monitor during the game to review this play,” the statement from the conference read.
The conference will not issue any further comment, according to the statement.
Forward Malik Pope made the most of SDSU’s second chance and hit a game-tying triple. UNM couldn’t get a last-second shot off as regulation time expired and the game tied at 66.
After Jeremy Hemsley opened overtime with a jumper, UNM scored five straight points off a Brown field goal, a Tim Williams jump shot and a Neal free throw. However, Shepard’s putback started a 10-0 run to seal the victory.
The win gives San Diego State 11 straight Mountain West wins after opening the season 7-6. The Aztecs (18-6, 11-0 MW) have now won 161 straight games when holding the lead with five minutes to play; they led 54-50 at that point until UNM made its comeback.
Despite the loss, UNM (14-9, 7-3 MW) maintains its second-place spot in the conference standings with Boise State’s stunning 61-53 loss at Air Force. The Lobos will remain on the road Sunday and Monday for its Tuesday night game at Utah State in Logan, Utah.
“I thought our guys played their butts off, I thought we had them in a position to win the game,” head coach Craig Neal said in a release. “It was a very competitive game. They have a great team and a great program and I really respect them.”
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No official statement regarding the incorrect call came from Neal or the Athletics Department. The game recap on GoLobos.com referred to the Mountain West statement.
Saturday’s game featured six ties and 10 lead changes, with the Aztecs ahead for 22:46 and the Lobos up for 16:53.
SDSU’s defense, the top in the league, halted UNM’s potent offense to 33.8 percent (24 of 71) and 25 percent from 3-point range (5 of 20). The Aztecs countered with 42.6 percent on field goals (29 of 68) but 14.8 percent from the arc (4 of 27). SDSU also outrebounded UNM by a 47-39 margin.
Brown and Williams led UNM’s scorers with 23 and 21 points apiece. Williams added seven rebounds and Brown provided five assists.
Hemsley matched Brown’s point total of 23, while Shepard had 15 and guard Trey Kell added 12.
J.R. Oppenheim is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s basketball and women’s soccer. Contact him at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
