Missed Layup Sends Aztecs on Their Way to 82-70 Loss to BYU

Considering that San Diego State lost to Brigham Young, 82-70, Saturday night some would not consider a missed layup a big deal.

But Coach Smokey Gaines and guard Anthony Watson said it was. And Watson missed the shot.

The play in question occurred after SDSU had cut its 42-29 halftime deficit to 53-51. After Watson missed the layup, BYU’s Tom Gneiting hit two free throws at the other end.

“When Wat missed that shot, it was a four-point turnaround,” Gaines said. “That was the turning point that hurt us, I thought.”

Watson scored when SDSU regained possession, cutting the margin to 55-53. That’s when BYU had its turning point.

The Cougars scored 16 of the next 18 points, to take a 71-55 lead with 4:33 remaining.

In retrospect, even Watson thought his missed layup cost SDSU a shot at winning. But Watson had an excuse for missing. For the second straight night, Watson and teammates thought they were getting “homered” by the officials in Utah.

“You get kind of tentative when you’re going in the air and they call charging on you,” Watson said. “I think that’s what happened to me on that play. I thought I might get called for an offensive foul when I went up to shoot.”

The Aztecs, who had a shot at tying for the Western Athletic Conference lead, fell to 2-2 in the WAC and 3-11 overall. BYU is 2-2 and 5-9.

The Cougars had built their 13-point halftime lead while Watson watched from the bench for the final 14:13 after recording two fouls. Watson, who was held scoreless in the half, finished with a game-high 22 points.

Gaines said he benched Watson so that his leading scorer would not have three fouls at halftime.

“Getting two fouls in the first half is a cardinal sin,” Watson said. “I think (Gaines) figured we could come back in the second half, which we did. We didn’t have to worry about foul trouble. If I had three fouls at halftime, I would have been worrying about foul trouble the whole second half.”

At the outset of the second half, the Watson-led Aztecs began taking charge. SDSU scored six unanswered points shortly after halftime, cutting its deficit to 44-37 as Watson passed to Bobby Owens for a basket with 17:20 remaining.

After BYU’s Jeff Chatman scored on a follow shot, SDSU scored eight straight points. Three consecutive baskets by Watson and John Martens’ field goal made the score 46-45 with 15:09 remaining.

The Cougars eventually built a 53-47 lead. SDSU twice cut the margin to two but could never get even.

Greg Humphreys, a 6-foot 7-inch reserve forward, was BYU’s key man. Humphreys scored six straight points in one stretch, four on offensive rebounds, providing BYU with a 63-53 lead with 6:32 remaining.

“Getting the offensive boards kind of took the air out of San Diego State,” Humphreys said. “They work hard to defend you, then you get off two or three shots. When you do that, it takes the spirit out of their comeback.”

For the 13th time in 14 games, SDSU was outrebounded. BYU had a 50-41 rebounding edge as 6-10 center Gneiting led the way with 14 rebounds. Martens, SDSU’s 6-8 center, had 16 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

Bob Capener, a graduate of Torrey Pines High School, was BYU’s leading scorer with a career-high 21 points.

SDSU made five more field goals than BYU, 30-25, but was plagued by foul trouble. BYU was 32 of 41 at the foul line, and SDSU was 10 of 18.

The Aztecs began their two-game trip Friday night by losing to Utah, 93-89, in overtime.

“We lost two games up here this weekend, and you can’t be happy about that,” Gaines said. “But, in a way, I’m encouraged. There isn’t that big of a gap between us, Utah and BYU.”

However, there was a big enough gap for SDSU to go 0-2 in Utah for the sixth time in eight years.