Utah State’s late 3 crushes San Diego State at Viejas Arena – a stunner – San Diego Union-Tribune

It was probably only a matter of time before a young team with a new rotation crashed back to Earth like a satellite falling from orbit, and that’s what happened Saturday afternoon as a Fox national television audience witnessed the carnage.

“It’s going to sting a little,” Miles Byrd said, his eyes red with tears.

As spectacular as San Diego State looked in the first 18 minutes en route to an 18-point lead against a losing effort against Utah State, the 20th-ranked team in the country looked stunned afterward, suffering its first real hiccup of the season at 67 -66 at Viejas Arena on Tucker Anderson’s 3-pointer with 6.8 seconds left.

Tucker Anderson?

He is a 6-foot-9 sophomore winger from Centerton, Arkansas, who spent last season at Central Arkansas. And started the day averaging 5.0 points per game off the bench and shooting 20.5% from behind the arc.

And had 14 points, including 3-pointers on the Aggies’ last two possessions when, gulp, they erased a seven-point deficit with just 90 seconds left.

“The poor kid struggled all year,” said Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun, whose 12-1 Aggies won at Viejas Arena for the first time since moving to the Mountain West in 2013-14, including one SDSU’s 35-game winning streak took the lead at halftime.

“I kid you not, he shoots two to three times a day in our gym. Our boys teased him like he was a golfer with a breakdown, maybe he needed a few days off. But he stuck with it. His mother was in the hospital with (a heart problem) earlier this week. It’s just been a crazy few weeks for this kid.”

A heartwarming story for the folks in Cache Valley, but no consolation for those in the sold-out Viejas Arena who no doubt thought by the end of the first half that this was going to be a Saturday afternoon stroll at Balboa Park.

The score: SDSU 40, Utah State 22.

The score in the last 22 minutes: Utah State 45, SDSU 26.

The Aztecs (8-3, 1-1) completely lost it, as they would say in England, stunned by Utah State’s halftime adjustments to their matchup zone, running aimlessly over the fence before throwing up a contested jumper at the shot . Alarm tone of the clock if it has not expired beforehand.

Another British football phrase that was true: they ran out of ideas.

It was a shocking development after a free-flowing first half in which they forced Calhoun into a timeout just under two minutes into the game, 7-0, and scored 43 points by halftime in all manner of ways – dunks, jump hooks, floaters, 3s , free throws.

During a timeout, Calhoun yelled at his team as the Viejas Arena crowd roared, “Don’t let these (expletive) people intimidate you. It’s a basketball game. Who takes care of them? It’s like you’ve never played before.”

They began to listen and play without fear, and the Aztecs became a group that looked like they had never played before.

An 18-point lead became 11 at halftime, then seven, then three, then a one-point deficit, and then within two minutes it was back to 65-58.

Then, disaster.

Complete disaster.

Utah State’s Ian Martinez (17 points) raced down the lane and ran over Byrd, but the officials called a block, much to the chagrin of a sold-out Viejas Arena after they saw a replay on the giant video boards. It was Byrd’s fifth foul that ended his day. Martinez scored on the play and made the ensuing free throw – 65-61.

The Aztecs stormed to the other end and instead of running out the clock, Wayne McKinney III drove downfield against a forest of defenders and missed a layup just seven seconds later. Anderson followed with a 3 and it was a one-point game

Nick Boyd fouled out with 51.9 seconds left, made the first free throw, missed the second, but parried his own rebound and called a timeout. However, the Aztecs once again seemed lost on offense and were unable to get open before BJ Davis hit a deep three-pointer late in the shot clock that missed badly.

Calhoun admits it.

“I almost blew it, to be honest: I wanted to take some time off,” he said. “I go to bed and think, ‘Wow, I could have really messed up.’ But I didn’t do it.”

He didn’t just do it because Mason Falslev, his best player, had the ball and thought he would make a good decision. He did so and served Anderson on the right wing.

Swish.

On the other hand, SDSU coach Brian Dutcher was madly trying to call a timeout, but the referees strangely didn’t look his way (as they are required to do in such situations). He didn’t understand it.

“Once it’s in,” Dutcher said, “then you know what it is: Six seconds, go to the basket, go to the rim and let them call a foul.”

McKinney, the USD transfer who was on the floor in crunch time for the first time this season, did not. He dribbled on the right side instead of up the middle – “I found Wayne a little indecisive and not sure what he wanted to do,” Dutcher said – and settled for a contested three-pointer that never really had a chance.

Buzzer.

Be silent.

Aggies gallop across the ground in celebration.

The Aztecs increased their shooting percentage from 52% in the first half to 25.9% (7 of 27) and 0 of 11 three-pointers in the second half. Boyd and Byrd were the only players in double figures with 14 each.

“It’s the matchup zone,” Dutcher said.

Utah State associate head coach Eric Haut brought it with him from Northern Kentucky, and Dutcher was so concerned — especially given his team’s troubles with UC San Diego’s similar schedule in its opening game — that he even took notes from it Watched Northern Kentucky’s games from last season to see how teams attacked it.

“It’s a tough defense, it’s a good defense,” Dutcher said. “With that defense, they’re going to give people a lot of problems. We had a good first half and a rather mediocre second half.”

So-so might be a generous assessment. The Aztecs increased their scoring from 1.265 points per possession in the first half to a more than atrocious .697 in the final 20 minutes.

Still, they led 36:57 of the game.

It turns out that’s not enough.

It couldn’t be easier. The next two Saturdays, the Aztecs play at Boise State and New Mexico – games they are unlikely to be favorites to win. They could be looking at three conference losses come January 11th.

“We were very dominant in the first half and showed what type of team we are,” Byrd said. “But we are a young team and we showed our lack of maturity at the end of the first half and in some parts of the second half. It’s going to be a long season. But I think (we) agree that this team is ultimately destined for greatness.

“Sometimes you need losses like that to stay humble and keep going.”

Remarkable

Next up: a midweek bye, followed by the first true away game of the season (and first trip outside of California in more than a month) at Boise State on Jan. 4 (1 p.m. PST on CBS)… It’s semester break, but Der Student section was still full after SDSU sold general admission tickets there for $31… For many years you have the same official once or twice a season. Against Cal last weekend, SDSU had Randy Richardson for the fifth time in 10 games. They had Saturday Michael Irving for the second time in a row and the fourth time this season… Jared Coleman Jones suffered a cut below his right eye after a collision with his teammate at the start of the first half Magoon Gwath. He returned with a bandage with 6:12 left in the first half and finished with seven points and five rebounds…Four Aggies (Falslev, Martinez, Anderson and Deyton Albury) together scored 58 of their 67 points. All nine Aztecs playing scored a goal.

Originally published: December 28, 2024 at 6:09 pm PST