College Basketball Roundup : San Diego State, Coming Off Big Losses, Stuns New Mexico

The first question Coach Jim Brandenburg was asked seemed to be the obvious one.

His San Diego State basketball team, the same team that had lost its previous two games by 54 points, had just beaten No. 18-ranked New Mexico, 64-59, in a Western Athletic Conference game Thursday night at San Diego.

The loss ended the Lobos’ 10-game winning streak.

The question: Are you surprised?

“You mean this isn’t what we’re supposed to do?” Brandenburg said, smirking. “Oh, ye of little faith.”

This might have been the best thing to happen to the Aztecs (7-7, 1-2 in the WAC) and Brandenburg since he left Wyoming to take over the struggling San Diego State program last March.

Not since Jan. 18, 1986, when the Aztecs defeated then No. 17 Texas El Paso, 67-66, had they beaten a team ranked in the top 20.

“This is a great win for us,” said center Mitch McMullen, who had game highs of 19 points and 8 rebounds. “We listened to the coach and played hard.”

The Lobos (14-4, 2-1) came into the San Diego Sports Arena with their first ranking in 10 years, they left with their first loss since Dec. 5 at Washington.

Rodney Hawkins clinched the victory when he made both ends of a one-and-one with five seconds to play after New Mexico had three-point attempts by three players bounce off the rim in the previous 14 seconds.