They stormed the court at San Diego State, and with good reason. The Aztecs came back from down 16 points in the second half to knock off No. 21 New Mexico, 51-48, to win the Mountain West Conference regular season championship.
New Mexico vs. San Diego State final score: Aztecs win Mountain West regular season title
The Aztecs earned a conference title by coming back from 16 down in the second half.
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODA
It was the biggest second-half comeback that coach Steve Fisher had ever orchestrated with the Aztecs.
New Mexico beat San Diego State on Feb. 22 in Albuquerque and looked well on its way to a season sweep, up 41-25 with 12:04 to play. From there, the Aztecs scored 19 of the next 20 points to grab the lead, with contributions coming from five different players.
When the Lobos re-took the lead on a three from Deshawn Delaney, Xavier Thames answered with a jumper to put the Aztecs ahead for good. They led by six in the final seconds when a meaningless three from Kendall Williams at the buzzer provided the final margin.
Thames had 23 points to lead San Diego State, as no other Aztecs player scored in double figures. Cameron Bairstow had 20 for New Mexico, while Alex Kirk added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
These two teams will be the 1 and 2 seeds in the Mountain West Tournament next week and may be on a title game collision course for March 15 in Las Vegas.
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