What San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said after damaging loss at New Mexico

The San Diego State Aztecs walked out of The Pit in Albuquerque for the final time, their Mountain West title hopes and NCAA Tournament at-large chances seriously damaged, if not totally obliterated.

The Aztecs blew an 11-point first-half lead before making a game of it in the final minute, and ultimately losing 81-76 to the New Mexico Lobos.

It was the latest disappointment in a season full of them for a team that began with high expectations, including being the unanimous preseason pick to win the title in their final season in the MW before bouncing to the new-look Pac-12.

Tomislav Buljan had a monster game for the Lobos, with 24 points and 18 rebounds.

Miles Byrd had 17 points to lead four Aztecs in double figures.

The Aztecs (19-9, 13-5 MW) came in tied for first place in the MW with Utah State and holding the tiebreaker that would result in the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in Las Vegas, assuming that they won out.

Instead, they dropped back into a tie for second with the Lobos (22-7, 13-5), who lost by four when the teams met at Viejas Arena on Jan. 17. Utah State had the chance later Saturday to take sole possession of the lead if it beat Grand Canyon at home.

The Aztecs will almost certainly have to win the MW tournament in Las Vegas in order to get into the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season.

“We battled hard enough. I don't think that we played well enough, but we fought hard enough,” coach Brian Dutcher said.

“But Buljan [Tomisla]’s had monster games against us. Sometimes it's switch five because he ends up with a guard on it, but we weren't switch five down the stretch, we were in drop. Some of the baskets he made, we know he drives them up top, yet he drove, spun, made a basket. He scored a lot of different ways. He had 18 rebounds, nine offensive. That's more than our whole team. He was a one-man show in the paint, and they needed every one of them.”

Here are the highlights of Dutcher and the players’ news conference:

Dutcher on what hurt the Aztecs

“We didn't provide enough resistance around the basket, and then we missed free throws. We gave 36 free throws on the road. It's hard to win, but we fought hard enough to win and put ourselves in a position to win.”

Dutcher on Luke Haupt’s 3-pointer at the end of the game

“I mean, we were probably worried about Buljan [Tomisla] around the basket more than anything. Luke made two 3s against us in the first game, so we're not playing him like a shooter, we're playing him as a driver. That's what he does. He makes his teammates better. He's looking to drive and get other guys a basket, but he didn't shy away from the moment and made a really big three with the game on the line, so kudos to Luke. I’ve known him a long time. Very good player.”

Junior guard Miles Byrd On his feelings about the loss

“It’s frustrating, obviously. These are the more frustrating ones than when you come in and lose by 15. When you come in and you're ahead the whole entire first half, they have a good run to end the half, and then it’s just back-and-forth the whole entire second. We were in between three and five pretty much the whole second half. We tied the game, and just credit to Luke Haupt with the big 3 that he hit late in the game. We just never were able to recover.”