by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
The Lobos let too many opportunities slip away.
In overtime, San Diego State made the UNM men's basketball team pay, pulling away for an 81-74 victory Tuesday at The Pit.
Head coach Ritchie McKay said the Lobos didn't put the game away when they had chances to.
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"Our effort was good," he said. "We just got to get better at executing down the stretch. I thought we should have came away with a victory."
UNM had the ball in the closing seconds of regulation with the score tied at 70. Chad Toppert missed an open 3-pointer, and the Aztecs knocked the ball out of bounds with half a second left.
After a timeout, Darren Prentice hit a wide-open Aaron Johnson under the basket, whose layup rolled off the rim as time expired.
The play was executed well, but it was frustrating to see the shot come up short, McKay said.
"Darren made a good pass, and we just didn't finish," he said.
The blame for the loss should not be placed squarely on Johnson's shoulders, Prentice said.
"People miss shots," he said. "We still had a chance to win in overtime. We just came out lackadaisical."
UNM held big leads in the first half, but SDSU caught up quickly each time.
The Lobos jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Aztecs used a
14-2 run to take the lead with 12:18 left in the first half.
Prentice nailed a 3-pointer with 2:22 left in the half to give UNM a 33-24 lead, but the Aztecs tied the game at 33 at halftime.
In overtime, Johnson hit two free throws to give the Lobos a 74-72 edge with 3:40 remaining, but UNM would not score again.
The loss was painful because the Lobos had chances to win the game, Prentice said.
"It's hard because we were right there," he said. "In regulation and in overtime, we just didn't execute the last few minutes down the stretch like we should have."
Tony Danridge led the Lobos and tied a career high with 24 points. He finished 10-of-21 from the field. Prentice added 15, while Toppert and Jamaal Smith scored 10 points each.
Defensively, the Lobos had no
answer for SDSU's Brandon Heath. The guard torched UNM for 30 points, including five 3-pointers. The Aztecs also pounded the Lobos inside, scoring 38 points in the paint.
Prentice said the loss is demoralizing because it came so late in the season.
"Coming down these last few games in conference, we want to build some momentum going into the conference tournament," he said. "We felt like we had a chance to win four or five in a row. This one
does hurt."
Men's basketball at Utah
Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Salt Lake City
