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Aztecs collapse, blow record 26-point lead in loss to Colorado State

San Diego State guard Jordan Schakel (20) is fouled by Colorado State forward Dischon Thomas (11).
San Diego State guard Jordan Schakel (20) is fouled by Colorado State forward Dischon Thomas (11) during the first half of Saturday’s game at Viejas Arena.
(Denis Poroy)

San Diego State sets Mountain West record in conference-opening defeat

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San Diego State played its best 10 minutes of basketball in years, maybe decades, maybe ever, driving and dishing, draining 3-pointers, swatting shots, swiping steals, gobbling rebounds, running the break, flowing, clicking, dominating, racing to a seemingly insurmountable lead against a respectable Colorado State team on Saturday afternoon.

Except almost no one outside the players, coaches, referees, staff, red-jacketed security and a handful of media inside Viejas Arena saw it.

CBS didn’t join the game — its first Aztecs telecast from Viejas in nearly a decade — until 10:18 left in the first half because LSU and Florida turned into a foul-fest that took for-ev-er to finish.

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What the nation did see, ultimately, was a short-handed Aztecs team suffer an epic collapse in what became an unfathomable, unthinkable, unconscionable, did-that-just-happen 70-67 defeat.

It’s hard to know what was worse: Surrendering a 19-0 run in the first half after leading by 26, or being outscored 14-0 in the second half after leading by 15, or not making a basket for the final seven minutes of the first half and final 4:53 of the second.

Or ending a 35-game win streak when leading with five minutes to go.

Or allowing Colorado State to score the game’s final 11 points after leading by eight inside two minutes to go (and seven, still, inside a minute).

Or, up three with 12.3 seconds left, fouling backup guard John Tonje on a corner 3 for a four-point play that gave the Rams their first lead since 2-0.

SDSU sports teams have been on the short end of some famously infamous results through the years. This might top them all, or at least give the 2005 collapse against UNLV — up 10, 29 seconds left — a run for its money.

According to ESPN Stats, it was the largest comeback in Division I this season and one of five road comebacks of 26 or more points in the last decade. Oh, and no Mountain basketball team had ever lost after leading by as many as 26.

“Although we played magnificent stretches,” coach Brian Dutcher said, “we didn’t play well enough for an entire game to deserve to win … Anything that could go wrong down the stretch went wrong. We had a seven-point lead with a minute to go. That should be enough to win the game.”

These same teams meet in the same place Monday night on a different channel (6 p.m., Fox Sports 1). Who knows what’s in store, given the first game’s wild swings.

“It could not have gone worse (to start),” said Colorado State coach Niko Medved, who watched the Aztecs make seven straight shots. “It was like a blitzkrieg. We were like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?’ Finally, in a timeout, we made up our mind and I said a few things I should not share.

“To me, it speaks to the character of these guys. Most teams would have hung their heads and just allowed themselves to get beat and say, ‘It’s not our night,’ and that’s the easy thing to do.”

The Aztecs (6-2, 0-1) were without starting forward Aguek Arop, who was fine at practice Friday and fine at shootaround Saturday morning but was sent home before tipoff after experiencing stomach issues upon arriving at the arena. It is not believed to be COVID-related (Arop’s test that morning came back negative), and Arop is expected to be available Monday night.

Also absent was freshman Keith Dinwiddie Jr., in street clothes with a hip injury. Then Keshad Johnson landed hard on his right arm trying to dunk in the first half and didn’t play in the second, leaving the Aztecs with essentially a seven-man rotation.

Adam Seiko started in Arop’s place and had nine points before being warned for flopping with 15:53 left, then continued to argue with referee Tony Padilla and drew a technical foul. The two ensuing free throws cut what once was a 38-12 margin to five, and it was nervous time.

It was down to a single point when Adam Thistlewood got an easy basket inside on a blown defensive assignment, finally eliciting a timeout from Dutcher after neglecting to call one during the 19-0 run in the first half.

But it wouldn’t be until Tonje’s free throw with 12.3 seconds left that Colorado State (6-1, 3-0) took the lead.

Tonje’s layup had narrowed it to 67-64 after Trey Pulliam missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw. The Rams got a stop with 20 seconds left and found Tonje open in the left corner. Jordan Schakel raised his arm to contest but made contact as he released the shot.

Whistle. Swish.

“Looking back on the film,” said Schakel, who fouled out on the play, “I did touch him on the elbow. I got my hands up, and I felt in the moment I did not foul him, but you always feel that way in the moment. … I drifted too close to him, but at the end of the day he also just made a tough shot.”

Matt Mitchell drove off a screen and hoisted a bank shot at the other end that bounced off the rim and out. The Rams grabbed the rebound and maybe the craziest win of the 2020-21 college basketball season.

“There’s nothing like being in (the locker room afterward) and seeing the joy on the faces of everyone involved,” said Medved, who won for the first time in eight trips to Viejas Arena as an assistant or head coach. “To be able to steal a game like this is just awesome.”

Five Rams players scored in double figures, led by David Roddy and Thistlewood with 15 each. After getting crushed on the boards early, the Rams finished with a 39-31 edge. They also had a 24-12 advantage in points in the paint as the Aztecs were content to shoot over their packed-in defense. And they made 14 of 24 behind the arc themselves following a 0 of 6 start.

Mitchell had 14 points but on 5 of 14 shooting with five turnovers, and the Aztec were minus-12 points with him on the floor. Nathan Mensah went from 18 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks against Saint Mary’s to four, four and one. Pulliam had six assists but didn’t make a basket in 34-plus minutes.

After their initial run, the Aztecs missed 28 of their final 37 shots.

With CBS viewers watching, they were outscored 65-39.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Gomez picked up where he left off against Saint Mary’s, finishing with 19 points and four steals in a season-high 30 minutes off the bench. Seiko, making his first career start in 69 games, finished one off his career high with 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting despite the ill-timed technical.

And the Aztecs seemed to solve their issues with slow starts at home, particularly in afternoon tips that don’t allow for their regular pregame routine. They had players arrive at the athletic department at 7:45 a.m. for COVID-19 testing, then held a spirited shootaround that went beyond the normal half-speed walk through.

The Rams scored first, then were blitzed with a 14-0 run. They scored again, then got hit with an 11-0 run. After 13 minutes, it was 38-12.

And then … the Aztecs didn’t make another basket for the remainder of the half. A 19-0 Rams run cut it to seven at intermission.

“I’m thinking,” Mitchell said, “we maybe lost focus.”

Notable

The immediate damage in the Kenpom metric: The Aztecs dropped nine spots to No. 32. The Rams went from 95th to 84th.

• SDSU’s last three losses — Colorado State and BYU this season, and Utah State at the end of last season — and four of the last five have come in afternoon tips.

• The Rams led for only 39 seconds.

• Gomez’s 19 points were the most off the bench by an Aztecs player since Jeremy Hemsley also had 19 against UNLV in 2018.

• It was only the second time in 37 games that SDSU has lost after leading at the break.

• The 14 made 3-pointers by SDSU are a season high. So are the 18 assists.

• The Aztecs did a great job on preseason all-conference guard Isaiah Stevens, holding him to 11 points on 3 of 13 shooting (although he did distribute nine assists).

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