San Diego State’s NCAA Tournament hopes take hit with home loss to Grand Canyon
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The San Diego State Aztecs were hoping to get some payback against Grand Canyon on Tuesday night.
Instead, all they got from the Antelopes was more pain.
If the Aztecs miss the NCAA Tournament in their final season in the Mountain West, the newcomer Lopes will have had a lot to do with it.
Jaden Henley scored 21 points and the Antelopes overwhelmed SDSU in the second half at Viejas Arena to take a 73-63 victory for a season sweep. It was a Quad 3 loss, further damaging the resume of an Aztecs team already on the bubble.
The loss also dropped the Aztecs (18-7, 12-3 MW) out of a first-place tie with Utah State, which can take a one-game lead if it beats Boise State at home on Wednesday night.
On Jan. 21 in Phoenix, GCU handed the Aztecs their first conference loss and snapped their seven-game winning streak with a gut-punch of a 70-69 victory.
San Diego State had won five of six since then, including three straight, before the Lopes (17-9, 10-5) ended the Aztecs’ 13-game home winning streak against conference opponents.
Why this loss hurts
The Aztecs have five games left in the regular season, including three Quad 1 opportunities. But the way this season has unfolded, the Aztecs can’t count on an at-large bid. That means the only way into March Madness would be to claim the automatic berth that comes with winning the MW tournament.
Earlier Tuesday, ESPN Bracketology guru Joe Lunardi had the Aztecs as the last team into the Field of 68, but said a win against GCU would remove the Aztecs from the at-large pool and project them for the MW autobid.
The Lopes were admitted to the MW last summer, a year earlier than planned. That coincided with the final MW season for SDSU and four other schools before they move into the Pac-12.
San Diego State fell to 1-6 all-time against GCU, including 1-2 on Steve Fisher Court.
The game
Miles Byrd scored 18 points and was the only player in double digits for the Aztecs, who shot only 35.5% from the field.
SDSU led 33-29 at halftime, but the Lopes opened the second half with a 12-3 run and never looked back.
The Lopes pushed the lead to 58-46 and the Aztecs couldn’t get closer than five.
First half
The Antelopes hushed usually raucous Viejas Arena by dominating early and taking a 21-12 lead with 9:13 to go before halftime.
The Aztecs slowly closed the gap, and in one nice sequence got a block by Gwath and a 3-pointer by Byrd to make it 23-18 with 7:15 left.
GCU had a 29-25 lead with three minutes left before the Aztecs closed with an 8-0 run to make it 33-29 at halftime. Taj DeGourville and Tae Simmons each made two free throws before Simmons had a slam dunk on an alley-oop pass from DeGourville. DeGourville then finished the run with a layup.
Up next
With this two-game homestand over, the Aztecs head back out on the road to play at Colorado State on Saturday. It’ll be another chance at a series sweep, this time against one of the teams moving into the Pac-12 along with SDSU. The Aztecs beat the Rams 73-50 at Viejas Arena on Jan. 28.
Tipoff is at 3 p.m. and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.
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-bd678ba4dbad4f453246f539ee56a3b4.jpg "Bernie Wilson")
Bernie Wilson recently retired from The Associated Press after nearly 41 years, including stops in Spokane, Los Angeles and, for the final 33 years, San Diego. He grew up in Coeur d'Alene and graduated from the University of Idaho.