PHOENIX – San Diego State’s basketball team has beaten Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse. It has won at Gonzaga, at Arizona, at BYU, at USC, in the Pit against New Mexico, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum against Utah State. I
t wins all the time at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.
A week ago, it beat Wyoming by 17 in the Arena-Auditorium at 7,220 feet.
It … just … can’t … win at cozy GCU Arena on the campus of Grand Canyon University.
Been here three times. Three losses.
The latest was a wrenching 70-69 decision on Wednesday night that handed the Aztecs their first Mountain West loss of the season.
Grand Canyon’s Caleb Shaw blocks a shot by San Diego State’s Reese Dixon-Waters during the first half of Wednesday’s game at GCU Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.(Darryl Webb, for The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The silver lining: Utah State lost Tuesday, keeping SDSU (13-5, 7-1) alone in first place ahead of five teams with two losses
The dark cloud: Utah State lost at home to UNLV, the Aztecs’ next opponent on Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.
The Havocs student section was just as they remembered it – loud, engaged, unrelenting. Grand Canyon clearly feeds off it and rode the wave of energy to a 23-6 run in the second half that pushed the lead into double figures.
But the Aztecs, seemingly left for dead, came roaring back and actually led 69-68 with 7.7 seconds left and BJ Davis, an 87.7% shooter, at the free-throw line for a 1-and-1.
His free hit the front rim, back rim, front rim … and rolled off.
That sent Grand Canyon guard Makaih Williams racing to the other end, headlong toward the basket into a tangle of Aztecs defenders.
Miss.
Whistle.
Referee Jeffrey Anderson, ranked No. 11 nationally in the Kenpom officials’ ratings, called a foul on Tae Simmons that, Aztecs fans certainly, will dispute heartily.
Williams (17 points) made both free throws for a one-point margin with 1.8 seconds left. The Aztecs diagrammed a play that got Reese Dixon-Waters a decent look from 35 feet, but his desperation attempt caromed off the backboard and the rim.
San Diego State’s Miles Byrd fouls Grand Canyon’s Makaih Williams during the final seconds of Wednesday’s 70-69 Grand Canyon win at GCU Arena in Phoenix, Ariz. (Darryl Webb, for The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Pandemonium.
The Aztecs got 16 points from freshman Elzie Harrington, 12 from Dixon-Waters and 11 from Davis. Simmons had a heroic game, playing much of it as an undersized 5-man with Magoon Gwath out injured and the other bigs in foul trouble.
The Antelopes relied on a most unconventional formula, at least for them.
They entered the night ranked 331st in Division I in 3-point accuracy at 30.1% and 289th in 3-point makes at 6.8.
And then made four in the opening seven minutes and finished a blistering 10 of 16.
The key to winning in GCU Arena is quieting the ravenous crowd, something the Aztecs didn’t exactly do early.
The Antelopes won the tip and quickly got a 3-point play from 7-foot-1 freshman center Efe Demirel. Then they made four 3s before the first media timeout and led 17-12.
With 11:21 left in the first half, the Aztecs trailed 19-14 and had four turnovers to GCU’s three.
And here’s how many turnovers each team had for the rest of the half: Aztecs zero, Antelopes eight.
The GCU Arena crowd roars in front of San Diego State’s Miles Byrd during Wednesday’s 70-69 Grand Canyon win. (Darryl Webb, for The San Diego Union-Tribune)
That’s a recipe for getting back into the game, and the Aztecs did. An 8-0 run gave them the lead and 10 of 10 shooting from the line helped them keep it at intermission (37-35) despite not making a 3 of their own until 13 seconds left.
The most impressive part was that coach Brian Dutcher did it with a progressively smaller and smaller and smaller lineup. The 7-foot-0 Gwath was already out, then 6-9 posts Miles Heide and Pharaoh Compton both were on the bench with two fouls. Jeremiah Oden wasn’t particularly effective, so Dutcher went with four guards and 6-6 freshman forward Tae Simmons at the 5.
The Aztecs started Simmons in the second half and opened a 41-35 lead, only for the Antelopes to take control and lead by 12.
Notable
The players and coaches were scheduled to fly home via charter immediately after the game while the remainder of the staff flies commercial on Thursday morning. That’s to better prepare for Saturday’s game at UNLV (1 p.m., CBS) … After a regular diet of inexperienced officials from the Midwest, SDSU and Grand Canyon got an A+ crew: Keith Kimble (No. 2 in the Kenpom ref ratings), Brian Dorsey (5) and Jeffrey Anderson (11). Kimble and Dorsey were in Los Angeles the night before for UCLA-Purdue. Kimble also worked the 2023 national championship game between SDSU and UConn … Best sign in the Havocs student section: Aztecs peaked in the 1400s … After wearing red at Wyoming last week, the Aztecs were back in the road black uniforms.