March 08, 2017
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W.G. Ramirez, Mountain West Writer
LAS VEGAS - In another epic showdown between UNLV and San Diego State, Wednesday's opening round clash in the Mountain West Men's Basketball Championship could have simply been entitled "The Biggest."
After UNLV built its biggest lead against a Mountain West opponent this season - 37-16 at the 18:25 mark of the second half - the sixth-seeded Aztecs registered the biggest comeback in tournament history to win 62-52 in overtime. The previous high was 11, incidentally, overcome by UNLV in 2007, when the Rebels came from behind to defeat BYU.
"This was a game where not many people, including our own fans, thought we had a chance at halftime," said San Diego State coach Steve Fisher, whose Aztecs defeated UNLV for an 11th straight time overall and seventh straight time in the postseason. "And anything we could do to hurt ourselves we did. And they were brimming with confidence. And we found a way to muster the fight that you have to have to have a chance. You've got to fight."
San Diego State (18-13) advances to Thursday's quarterfinals against No. 3 seed Boise State. The Aztecs have won their last nine quarterfinal games. No. 11 seed UNLV (11-21) finished its campaign with losses in 11 of its last 12 games.
This marked the third time in four seasons the Aztecs eliminated UNLV from the Mountain West tournament.
The Aztecs were led by Malik Pope and Trey Kell, who each had 13 points. Pope also had 12 rebounds.
"(Coach) Fish honestly just told us to be more tough in the second half," Pope said. "And it all started with guarding - with five. And that really turned the game around for us offensively, because you know that creates momentum. We just followed Coach Fisher, he has experience and we know we can trust him. That's what it came down to for us. Just being tough, having some grit in the game, not playing soft."
San Diego State, which overcame its biggest second-half deficit to win since at least the 1996-97 season, used a 14-0 run in a span of 3:38, after scoring just 14 points in the entire first half. San Diego State's 14 points tied for the second-fewest in a half in Mountain West tournament history.
Using a balanced attack that saw seven different players score over the first 11 minutes of the second half run, though, the Aztecs extended their run to 27-8 to take a 41-40 lead with a little less than nine minutes left in the game.
San Diego State increased its advantage to 50-46, but the Runnin' Rebels refused to go away, and tied the game at 50 with 10.1 seconds left in the game, when Christian Jones hit the second of two free throws.
Pope's last second 18-footer for San Diego State was off the mark, and the teams headed into overtime. From there it was all San Diego State, as it scored the next 12 points to seal the win, with eight of its points coming from Kell.
Prior to Wednesday's game, no game in Mountain West tournament history saw both teams shoot less than 35 percent. UNLV finished shooting 31.6 percent on 18 of 57 shooting, while the Aztecs connected on just 18 of 58 (31 percent).
"Probably a little more proud of my guys and the way that we played, in spite of the mental faux pas there at the end of the game," UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. "I thought we showed a lot of heart, a lot of fight. Kind of a microcosm of our season in terms of the attention to detail at critical times. I thought we still had enough to get over the hump. And a couple of missed rebounds, a couple of missed free throws and the rest is history."
UNLV's leading scorer Jovan Mooring finished with a game-high 18 points before fouling out with five fouls in the second half.
"We missed a couple of shots in the second half that we were making in the first half," Mooring said. "And I think it had a lot to do with them making shots. We weren't getting the stops we were getting in the first half. So that's pretty much how it goes."
Mooring scored 15 of his 18 in the first half. Jones contributed with 16 points and eight rebounds for the Runnin' Rebels.