ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Lamont Butler’s 3-pointer on the buzzer gave No. 22 San Diego State a 73-71 win over New Mexico on Saturday night.
After Jaelen House’s steal and end-to-end run for a layup with 5.6 seconds left gave New Mexico a 71-70 lead, Butler unhurriedly got the ball on court before dropping his shot, which earned him 10 points for the Aztecs (23-5 , 14-2 Berg West).
“I got the ball about 5 seconds from time,” Butler said. “I got as far as half court and fiddled around a bit. As soon as I looked up there were 2 seconds left and I knew I had to let it go. I’m just glad the shot went in.”
It seemed that Micah Parrish’s 3-pointer with 23 seconds left that put San Diego State at 70-66 would be enough. But Jamal Mashburn Jr. was fouled on a 3-point try with 16.7 seconds left and hit all three free throws – setting the stage for the wild final sequence.
“I was calm,” Butler said. “I knew Dutch (Aztec trainer Brian Dutcher) designed the game for me, so I knew I had to make a game to win the game. I put in so many hours that I got out and got the shot today and I’m glad he got in.”
Dutcher said the game was actually designed with Butler putting the ball in the basket.
“Obviously I didn’t give Lamont a play-up to come down and shoot a 3 within 6 seconds,” he said. “I said we have six dribbles at 6 seconds. We tried to put him on the sidelines and put him on the edge, try to win it on the edge.
“But he got in the middle, I don’t know if they sent him in the middle or he got there, but he had the poise to get up and put down a really hard 3-point shot.”
New Mexico coach Richard Pitino said the long shot caught the Lobos by surprise.
“We played hard. We shared the ball pretty well. They just ended up making a big three,” he said. “I thought they were going to Bradley with something. I thought it was pretty brave of them to hit a 3.”
Darrion Trammell scored 18 points to lead the Aztecs while Matt Bradley added 11 as San Diego State won for a sixth straight season.
Mashburn finished on 20 for New Mexico (20-9, 7-9) and House had 15.
BIG PICTURE
While the Aztecs’ vaunted defense was absent in the first 30 minutes of the game, it kept New Mexico bucketless for more than four minutes late in the second half as they came back from a 56-47 deficit. Before forcing seven straight misses, San Diego State allowed the Lobos to score with a nearly 55% clip.
The loss left the Lobos a game behind in fifth place behind San Jose State in the conference with two games remaining.
NEXT
San Diego State: In Boise State on Tuesday in a game between the top two teams in the conference. A win takes San Diego State’s third conference regular-season championship in the past four years.
New Mexico: Tuesday home to play Fresno State.
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