After hitting on all cylinders for an eight-point halftime lead, the UNM men's basketball team misfired during a San Diego State University rally and fell 84-71 on the road Thursday.
With the loss, the Lobos drop to 16-11 overall and 6-7 in conference play, while the Aztecs earned a season sweep over UNM and improved to 17-11 for the season and 6-7 in the Mountain West.
Heading into the game, the Lobos were flirting with a chance to secure third place in the conference despite a tumultuous season filled with distractions, but the loss means they can finish no better than fourth and no worse than sixth.
That means UNM could possibly face the University of Nevada at Las Vegas to close the season Saturday and play the Rebels again in the first round of the conference tournament. Both games will be played on UNLV's home floor.
"People here are talking about San Diego State making its first post-season appearance in a long time, and their team is playing like it," UNM head coach Fraschilla said during his post-game radio show. "They are showing the urgency we did on Monday night in our win against Wyoming and for part of the first half of this game. When it's tournament time, you have to play like champions. They did, we didn't. They won, we didn't. That's the way it goes."
Early on, it looked as though Lobo Ruben Douglas's hot hand would give his team the edge it needed, but he went ice cold from the field in the second half as Al Faux lit up the Lobos. Douglas finished with 20 points, 16 of which he scored in the first half, while Faux scored 26, the majority of that came in the second half. Douglas scored his only field goal on the second half with less than a minute remaining in the game.
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"Any time you let a guy like Al Faux go five-of-11 from the 3-point line, you're going to have a hard time picking up a win," Fraschilla said. "We played better defense in the first half, but to give up open shots like we did in the second is suicide, and I really thought that was the difference in the game."
Faux began hitting from the outside to open the second half, propelling an Aztecs' run that put them back in the game. A reverse layup by Faux with less than 10 minutes remaining gave the Aztecs a one-point lead and they never looked back.
San Diego State also picked up help from forward Randy Holcomb, who finished with 19; guard Tony Bland, who scored 13; and guard Deandre Moore, who racked up 10. Aztec Chris Walton didn't put up dazzling statistics but effectively shut down Douglas in the second half, earning all four of his blocked shots in the game against the Lobo guard.
Eric Chatfield kept UNM in the game for the first 10 minutes of the second half and finished with 19. Posts Patrick Dennehy and Jamaal Williams chipped in 11 apiece.
Fraschilla said the early lead was deceiving and that he was disappointed with his team's defensive effort in the second half.
"Those shots that we hit in the beginning really were like fool's gold because they were off-balance, tough shots that we couldn't connect on in the second half," he said. "You can't rely on those type of shots against a team as talented as San Diego State on the road and expect to win."
While the Lobo effort had stalled, Fraschilla insisted that UNM still had a chance to win with less than three minutes remaining when it trailed by six points, but the Lobos lost control after leaving Faux open for another 3-pointer that put the game out of reach.
"The most disappointing part was how we lost this game," Fraschilla said. "We always have been able to put up a run to counter this team, but this game got of hand toward the end because we just fell apart both on offense and on defense."
The Lobos' final game of the season is on the road Saturday at 8 p.m. against UNLV. The game can be seen on KRQE, Channel 13, and heard on 770 KKOB-AM.
by Iliana Lim¢n
Daily Lobo
