It was almost surprising when a 50-something-foot desperation shot from Darington Hobson didn’t drop at the end of regulation, with the game tied at 78.
Hobson had set the bar high, sinking an almost identical 55-foot Hail Mary shot as time expired in the first half.
So the No. 15 UNM men’s basketball team (21-3, 7-2 MWC) needed an extra five minutes and a pair of free throws from Hobson to squeak by San Diego State, 88-86, in overtime inside The Pit on Saturday.
“(The Aztecs) had won an NCAA-leading, nine-straight overtime games,” said UNM director of media relations Greg Remington at Saturday’s postgame conference. “Last time they lost in overtime was 2005.”
Head coach Steve Alford corrected him.
“The last time they lost in overtime was today,” Alford said, drawing laughs from the peanut gallery.
The Lobos’ seventh straight win propelled them into a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference with (not soon to be No. 12) BYU and UNLV after BYU lost to UNLV on Saturday.
For the Lobos, free throws won the game.
Hobson — who finished with a game-high 29 points, 12 rebounds and six assists —scored eight of the Lobos’ 10 points in overtime, including two crucial free throws with one second left, pulling the Lobos ahead for a good 88-86.
“(Hobson) makes a terrific play,” Alford said. “He hadn’t been a great free-throw shooter. Yet he goes 7-(of)-9 and makes two of the biggest.”
For the Aztecs, free throws could have won the game.
Throughout the second half, the Lobos held a comfortable lead, going up by 11 with three minutes to go. A flurry of Aztec 3s brought that lead back down to two with seconds remaining.
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With one second left in regulation and the Aztecs down by two, guard D.J. Gay — who finished with 25 points and five assists — lined up for a 3-point shot. To the dismay of 14,586 fans, Hobson fouled him, putting the game-winning free throws in Gay’s hands.
The first shot banged off the back of the rim, went two feet into the air, hovered and then fell in. Gay missed on his second attempt but swished home the third free throw, tying the game at 78.
The Aztecs finished the game, hitting 14-of-27 free throws (51.9 percent), which is not uncommon. They average 60 percent from the line and have shot under 60 percent 10 times this season. They missed two free throws in overtime, four in the final seven minutes of the game.
The Lobos didn’t do much better, shooting 62.9 percent from the stripe.
But Alford said that is all they needed.
“The difference in the game was the foul line,” Alford said. “We didn’t shoot lights out, but 62 percent beats 51. So, I thought the difference was we got to the line a little more and we made a little bit more. That ended up being the key.”
Not factoring in the big men Will Brown and A.J. Hardeman — who went a combined 1-of-9 from the line but didn’t shoot any free throws down the stretch — the Lobos shot 80.7 percent from the line. Their season average is 67.4 percent.
Aside from free throws, both teams’ shooting percentages were nearly identical. The Lobos shot 50 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from behind the arc, compared with the Aztecs 50.8 percent from the field and 44.4 from the 3-point line.
But the Aztecs played the majority of the game with three forwards, giving them the advantage below the rim.
“(SDSU) is a big team,” Alford said. “They keep sending big guy after big guy. And we only have two. So this is the hardest matchup for Will and A.J., and I thought they held their own and did a great job of battling all night.”
Saturday was only the sixth time in 24 games that the Lobos were out-rebounded. The Aztecs, the conference leader in rebounds, wrangled 35 boards to the Lobos’ 32.
Together, the Aztecs’ forwards corralled 26 rebounds. A total of six Aztecs (four forwards) scored in double digits.
Even with the Aztecs’ post presence, Hardeman had his second biggest game of the season, securing seven rebounds and scoring 15 points, a few coming off put-back dunks late in the second half.
“I always know to go to the hole when Dairese (Gary) goes to the hole,” he said. “I always pick up his (misses). We just got a little bond like that.”
The Lobos were paced by Gary (15 points and five assists) and Roman Martinez (11 points).
