{"id":509855,"date":"2026-01-12T02:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T02:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/509855\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T02:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T02:41:10","slug":"sdsu-71-fresno-state-52-magoons-revival-opportunity-lost-and-boise-states-meltdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/509855\/","title":{"rendered":"SDSU 71, Fresno State 52 … Magoon’s revival, opportunity lost and Boise State’s meltdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three thoughts on San Diego State\u2019s 71-52 win against Fresno State<\/a> on Saturday night at Viejas Arena:<\/p>\n

1. Back on track<\/p>\n

Rock bottom for Magoon Gwath came two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

He had a frustrating night at San Jose State, getting stripped of the ball several times, getting a technical foul when he tossed the ball at an opposing player, getting benched for the final 11 minutes of a close game.<\/p>\n

Then he did something \u2014 showed up late for practice or a meeting, or skipped a weightlifting session \u2014 that compelled coach Brian Dutcher to remove him from the starting lineup for two games.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I didn\u2019t do what I was supposed to do,\u201d Gwath said Saturday night, without elaborating. \u201cI can\u2019t argue with them taking me out of the starting lineup. It\u2019s a culture that we all have responsibilities we must do, and if we don\u2019t do it, then stuff like that can happen.<\/p>\n

\u201c(But) it helped me lock in, having a couple slip-ups. It put me back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

We saw flashes Tuesday night at Nevada, subbing out of the game late and skipping down the bench to high-five teammates.<\/p>\n

We saw even more Saturday in Viejas Arena, returning to the starting lineup and finishing with 18 points (on 8-of-12 shooting), eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal from diving for a loose ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s getting better, and I can tell,\u201d Dutcher said of his 7-foot forward who sat out six months after April knee surgery. \u201cThere was a stretch where he looked pretty sad out there and sad in practice, and he has to fight through that. My job as a coach is not Xs and Os. It\u2019s helping these guys fight through tough stretches in their lives, whether it\u2019s on the court or off the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he feels better, he\u2019s mentally better. He\u2019s not sore and beat up before the game even starts, where he\u2019s in pain to run. Just getting his body back in game shape, he\u2019s feeling better. He\u2019s getting treatment every day, he\u2019s doing rehab every day, and his body is coming around.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not all the way back, not to the level he and everyone else expects. But he took some positive steps forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long season, with a lot of games,\u201d said Gwath, who didn\u2019t really get going last year until January and quickly blossomed into the Mountain West freshman and defensive player of the year. \u201cYou can\u2019t underperform for every game you play. There are going to be good games, there are going to be bad games. You\u2019ve just got to weather the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to go out there and have fun, tried not to press my game too hard and think too much about it. Just go out there and play, and what happens, happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SDSUSDSU coach Brian Dutcher looks on during the Aztecs\u2019 71-52 win against Fresno State at Viejas Arena on Saturday. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\n2. Missed opportunity<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to call a 19-point win a missed opportunity, but in the convoluted world of college basketball, it\u2019s hard to look at it any other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have led by 30 at halftime,\u201d Dutcher lamented.<\/p>\n

They would lead by 29 with 13 minutes to go, then surrender a 21-7 run that ultimately brought ninth-place Fresno State within 13 points. They spurted at the end to push the margin to 19 \u2026 yet still dropped three spots in both the Kenpom and NET metrics.<\/p>\n

The Aztecs finally have started winning \u2014 eight of their last nine, with the lone loss against No. 1-ranked Arizona \u2014 and that usually corresponds with a rise in your metrics. Except it hasn\u2019t in Kenpom, starting December at 51 and sitting at 53 now.<\/p>\n

They also still don\u2019t have a Quad 1 victory and have only three opportunities left: at New Mexico and both games against Utah State.<\/p>\n

They briefly had one after Tuesday\u2019s 73-68 win at Nevada, because a road opponent in the top 75 of the NET qualifies for Quad 1 and the Wolf Pack were 67. But the Wolf Pack dropped to 75 with the loss against SDSU, then slipped to 79 the next day when Boise State \u2014 their best win of the season \u2014 got drilled at home by Grand Canyon and fell as well, dragging down all their opponents with them. Nevada, then, became a Quad 2 win.<\/p>\n

SDSU\u2019s current resume: zero wins in Quad 1, one in Quad 2 and 10 in Quad 3 or below, plus metrics in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Not nearly good enough for NCAA Tournament at-large consideration.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to Saturday night. When you\u2019re up 29 early in the second half on a team missing its starting point guard and struggling to even get shots offs, you need to capitalize.<\/p>\n

New Mexico has. Its four conference wins against bottom-tier teams have come by 33, 20, 10 and 42 points, bumping them from 78 to 50 in Kenpom and to 44 in the NET.<\/p>\n

The Lobos were up 28 with 13 minutes to go at Air Force on Saturday \u2026 then poured it on and won 91-49.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t worry about that as much,\u201d Dutcher said. \u201cI\u2019m more frustrated because we didn\u2019t play up to our potential than the point spread. If we play to our potential and it\u2019s a two-point win, I\u2019m happy with it if I feel we\u2019re playing good basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an eight-minute stretch where I didn\u2019t like our concentration. That\u2019s the only thing I can control.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aztecs, though, are running out of blowout opportunities. Of games against the bottom three teams \u2014 Fresno State, San Jose State and Air Force \u2014 they only have a Feb. 7 game at Air Force, where they needed a buzzer-beater in overtime to win last year. And remember, they skip San Jose State at home and Fresno State away in the Mountain West\u2019s unbalanced schedule.<\/p>\n

\"BoiseBoise State coach Leon Rice is second behind former SDSU coach Steve Fisher in career Mountain West regular-season victories. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\n3. The hangover<\/p>\n

A week earlier at Viejas Arena, Boise State had a free-throw line jumper to win it at the regulation buzzer roll around the rim and spin out, then blew a six-point lead with 12 seconds left in overtime, then lost in triple OT partly from a 3 from Aztecs forward Jeremiah Oden when, video replay later showed<\/a>, he should have fouled out in the second OT.<\/p>\n

It might have saved SDSU\u2019s season.<\/p>\n

It might have ruined Boise State\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The Broncos limped home for a pair of games at ExtraMile Arena and lost both. Lost both badly, 75-58 against Grand Canyon on Wednesday and 93-68 against Utah State on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The 93 points were the most allowed at home in coach Leon Rice\u2019s 16-year tenure there. The 25-point loss was the most lopsided at home in a quarter century.<\/p>\n

Even worse, several hundred Utah State students were in attendance and chanted \u201cLeon hates you\u201d at Broncos guard Dylan Andrews.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Rice threw the UCLA transfer guard under the proverbial bus after the Grand Canyon loss, saying in the postgame news conference: \u201cNot to beat a dead horse, but we could shoot half-courters and shoot the same percentage of what he\u2019s shot recently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rice also said this about the sparse crowd for the 9 p.m. weekday tip:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat might have been the worst crowd we\u2019ve had. I feel grateful for the ones who came, because that was the emptiest this building\u2019s been. \u2026 That was a neutral-court game almost for Grand Canyon. \u2026 It was just a dead atmosphere, and we played right into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, the veteran coach took umbrage with a headline on the Bronco Nation News website saying \u201cRice blasts fans,\u201d launching into a nine-minute tirade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s malpractice, it\u2019s egregious, it\u2019s taken out of context,\u201d a visibly upset Rice said. \u201cFor someone to say I blasted our fans and use it as clickbait \u2014 call it what it is \u2014 that just makes me mad. That makes me mad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a part of this community, I\u2019ve lived here 16 years, I\u2019ve raised my family here. These people mean everything to our program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next night, his team lost by 25 and dropped to 1-4 in the Mountain West, tied with Fresno State for ninth place.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh boy,\u201d Rice said after bunkering in the locker room for a half hour. \u201cFirst of all, I\u2019ve got great guys. They\u2019re good kids, they\u2019re nice, they\u2019re fun to be around, and they were a good basketball team three weeks ago. We can\u2019t lose sight of that. But it\u2019s not right, right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, it\u2019s a crazy deal. We were a good basketball team, but we\u2019re not that right now. It\u2019s amazing how quick this flipped.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three thoughts on San Diego State\u2019s 71-52 win against Fresno State on Saturday night at Viejas Arena: 1.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":509856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1369,1370,3549,7264,18257,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-509855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-college-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sdsu-aztecs","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115879823816139968","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}