New Mexico wins title, leaves no doubt about NCAA berth — PHOTOS
There will be no more bubble talk about New Mexico’s men’s basketball team.
The Lobos are dancing.
They made sure of it Saturday by beating San Diego State 68-61 in the Mountain West tournament final before a raucous 11,112 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
With the victory, New Mexico clinched the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
It was impressive for many reasons, but none more than this: New Mexico, as the tournament’s sixth seed, became the first Mountain West side to win four games in four days to cut down the nets.
Tired legs? You would have never known it as they climbed a ladder.
The Lobos (26-9) snipped away strands because they made all the key plays over the final five minutes and received superb play from their talented backcourt.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House combined for 49 points, hurting the Aztecs from the jump. House was especially good, totaling 28 points and five rebounds.
It wasn’t anything special down the stretch. The Lobos time and again ran House off balls screens and watched him drive the lane to create for himself or others. And when an initial shot was missed, the Lobos would gather one of their 15 offensive rebounds in the most timely of manners.
Donovan Dent, one of New Mexico’s best players, was limited to 13 minutes with the flu and didn’t score.
“It’s a testament to our toughness,” Mashburn said. “We never separated (this season). We continued to work through our struggles. We just kept going and staying on the same page all the time.
“It’s not over yet, but it’s great to get a championship. Our goal was to come here and win a championship and cut down nets, and we did that.”
And for No. 5 seed San Diego State (24-10), last year’s national runner-up, it was more of the same at this point in the event.
Consider: In the last 13 Mountain West tournaments, the Aztecs are 24-2 in the quarterfinals and semifinals but just 3-8 in the championship game. They have really struggled finishing things off here.
But metrics suggest San Diego State could be the highest-seeded team from the Mountain West when the NCAA Tournament bracket is announced Sunday.
A record six teams are expected to be chosen from the league, which had its most competitive season in conference history.
Whether or not the Aztecs have another magical run in them won’t be known until the madness commences.
“I don’t think our (players) get discouraged,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “They’re tough. They don’t make excuses. … You’re gong to have adversity. … I just think we have a toughness about us that you gain through experience, and that will show in March.
“We’re disappointed, and we should be. We wanted to hang a banner for another Mountain West title. But it didn’t happen.”
This part showed Saturday: San Diego State couldn’t convert when it mattered most. New Mexico had much to do with that.
The Aztecs took a 57-53 lead with 7:03 remaining but scored just four points the rest of the way, the Lobos ending things on a 15-4 run.
Jaedon LeDee led the Aztecs with 25 points and six rebounds.
Nothing was easy for either side. New Mexico shot 38 percent from the field and 30 percent on 3s; San Diego State shot just 36 percent and 20 percent on 3s.
It has also been awhile since the Thomas & Mack was this loud.
“And,” remarked one reporter, “had this much red in it.”
Ouch.
And when it was over, a massive roar from Lobo fans went up as their team celebrated on the floor, players spraying coach Richard Pitino with water and holding aloft their well-earned trophy.
“I took a chance when I took this job (three years ago),” Pitino said. “I did it because I wanted to be in a place where basketball is celebrated, where a community really cared about its basketball program. A lot comes with that. It can be hard sometimes.
“San Diego State is a program we have a lot of respect for. We had to raise our level of toughness and did that. … Our guys’ confidence never wavered. They came into this tournament truly believing they could win it, and they did.”
Four wins in four days.
Bubble that.
Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
