Jan. 28, 2006
LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - Down by two points with eight seconds left, San Diego State put the ball into its leading-scorer's hands. But Brandon Heath's 3-point attempt didn't even hit the rim.
Fortunately for the league-leading Aztecs, Trimaine Davis was in the right place at the right time.
Davis grabbed the miss and converted a three-point play with 0.3 seconds remaining in overtime to lift San Diego State to a 78-77 victory over Wyoming Saturday afternoon.
"You want to play hard enough and good enough to put yourself in a position to win the game, and we were able to do that today," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said.
Davis rebounded the miss and was fouled as his put-back dropped, tying the score at 77. His free throw sealed the win.
"He is a fifth-year senior, and he is a leader on this team," Fisher said of Davis. "He has worked hard on his free throws, and it worked out perfect that he was able to seal the game with his free throw."
The final foul call was a controversial one.
"You never want a game to end that way because you feel so helpless," said Wyoming coach Steve McClain. "You always want a game played and finished with guys out there making plays. They called the foul; that's their job. Their (the Aztecs') kid still had to step up and hit the free throw, and he did. You give them credit for that."
Wyoming (11-9, 4-3 Mountain West) trailed 62-56 with 6:07 remaining in regulation, before going on a 12-6 run. A jumper by Steve Leven with 29 seconds left tied the score at 68, forcing overtime.
Wyoming jumped out to a four-point lead early in overtime, but poor free throw shooting cost them down the stretch. The Cowboys made only 14 of 29 attempts on the night, for 48.3 percent, including missing 10 of their final 16.
Wyoming's Brandon Ewing, who is hitting 82 percent of his free throws this season, made just two of eight attempts, including four consecutive misses in the final seconds of overtime.
"I'm not going to turn on those kids who have been making free throws every game and go, 'well if they'd have made them," McClain said. "That's part of it. Brandon Ewing's an 80 percent free throw shooter, and he went two for eight tonight. But if the game's on the line in Utah, I still want him on the line."
The Aztecs (14-6, 7-1) shot 78.1 percent from the line, making 25 of 32 attempts in the game.
San Diego State's 7-1 conference record is officially the best league start of the Division I era. The Aztecs have now won three consecutive MWC games on the road for the first time since 1978.
Marcus Slaughter led the Aztecs with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Mohamed Abukar scored 19, and Heath added 14 points.
Leven led Wyoming with a season-high 25 points. Brad Jones scored 13, and Justin Williams grabbed 10 rebounds for the Cowboys.
Williams, who ranks No. 2 in the nation in blocked shots, re-injured his ankle at 7:37 and sat out the remainder of the first half. After that, Abukar scored 17 of San Diego State's final 20 points in the half. Williams returned in the second half but was held to just two rebounds and no points.
"Most people would have said if Justin Williams doesn't play today, we don't even have a chance," McClain said.
Williams' basket for Wyoming at 12:59 in the first half marked the first field goal of the game, after both teams started 0-10 from the field. After that, there were seven ties and 10 lead changes before San Diego State made a final 7-2 run to pull ahead 37-33 at halftime.