343 days.
343 days ago was the last time the SDSU Aztecs suffered defeat. March 16th, 2019; Utah State won the Mountain West Championship game en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Tonight it was a scrappy UNLV Rebels who handed the Aztecs their first loss this season.
UNLV 66 SDSU 63.
UNLV coach TJ Otzelberger had the Rebels (15-14), (10-6 MW) tuned in and hungry to dethrone the Mountain West’s best team.
Look at these statistics from the first-half:
UNLV FG percentage: 58 percent. Three-point FG percentage? 46 percent.
Compare that to SDSU who shot 33 percent from the field and 17 percent from downtown.
The Aztecs looked sluggish and never adapted to the Rebels’ aggressive style as well. With no real size advantage, the Rebs used a small ball lineup that shot lights out.
There was a seven minute stretch in the second half where the Otzelberger’s squad failed to make a basket and the Aztecs failed to shave a seven-point deficit. Thirteen turnovers that all lead to points.
Those are frigid shooting numbers that make the Sakha Republic in January look warm. It also hurts that Jordan Schakel, one of the team’s best shooters, fouled out.
Following the loss tonight to the No.4 ranked team in the nation, there are no more undefeated teams left in Division-1 basketball. All 353 teams have suffered defeat.
The biggest question still arises after the ranked slate of games finishes for the weekend: How does this loss affect SDSU?
At (26-1) (15-1 MW), is it possible for the Aztecs to solidify a number-two seed in the western region of the NCAA Tournament bracket and have the opportunity to travel up Interstate-5 to play at the Staples Center? It is hard to imagine a scenario in which SDSU would fall out of the A.P (Associated Press) Top 10 rankings. Coming into Saturday’s game, with a number-four national ranking, number-one NET Metric ranking, the tournament committee will have plenty to discuss about the NET no.121 UNLV Running Rebels coming into Viejas Arena and sparking an upset victory that will shake the college basketball landscape.
“We tasted defeat for the first time and it doesn’t taste very good,” Coach Brian Dutcher said in his postgame press conference. “Anybody that was saying they thought a loss would be good for the Aztecs, we don’t feel that way at all.”
CBS Sports, ESPN, FS1, basically every national college basketball outlet debated on the potential of SDSU traveling to the East Coast as a No.1 seed. Chewing on the topic of Madison Square Garden playing the role of host to a slew of talented teams such as Duke, Maryland, Marquette, and others. Spit that out now. There is no shot that SDSU is getting shipped East.
Experts will peg SDSU as one of the top seeds on the West coast. ESPN gave Dutchs’ squad a 66.6 percent chance of running the table. SDSU came into the game with a fifth-ranked Kenpom metric where they accurately predicted that there would be at least one loss for this magical team on the Mesa. That ranking is sure to drop as well.
“It was kind of a reality check. It shows that we are not invincible.” But at the same time, we have to move past (the loss to UNLV),” said Matt Mitchell, who also honored pregame for becoming the 34th Aztec to score 1000 career points.
It was an honor to see the unveiling of the 2020 Mountain West Championship banner being raised during the pregame ceremony. This was to acknowledge the historic season for the seniors on the team: KJ Feagin, Yanni Wetzel, and Nolan Narrain.
Hopefully, in 44 days, another banner can be signified.