SDSU Leans on Freshman in Upset Win : Lowery’s 20-Footer at Buzzer Beats Utah in First Round

LARAMIE, Wyo. —  If San Diego State freshman guard Josh Lowery had been drafted by any major league club except the Cleveland Indians, there is a good chance he would have been spraying line drives Thursday afternoon.

Instead, he swished a 20-footer at the buzzer to give the Aztecs a 73-71 upset victory over league tri-champion Utah Thursday in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament at Arena Auditorium on the University of Wyoming campus.

“If he had gotten drafted by someone else,” said Aztec Coach Smokey Gaines, “he might not be in school now.”

Lowery agreed. The mediocrity of the Indians and Cleveland’s “Mistake on the Lake” reputation made playing basketball for the Aztecs that much more appealing to the 6-foot 4-inch player, who had a .400 batting average as a shortstop and a 25-point average in basketball for Oakland Tech in Oakland.

He was selected in the 32nd round by the Indians last spring and hopes to play for the SDSU baseball team this spring.

“Baseball is the sport I started in, and I like baseball a little more than basketball.”

At least he did before Thursday when he guaranteed his basketball team would play at least one more game this season by hitting a jumper from the left wing that enabled the Aztecs to advance to the WAC semifinals.

The Aztecs (10-18), who had finished sixth in the WAC with a 7-9 record, avenged two regular-season losses to the Utes (20-9), who had tied for first in conference at 12-4 and had eight straight victories.

SDSU will play Texas-El Paso at 6 PST tonight (KSDO-1130). UTEP defeated Colorado State, 58-50, in the second game of Thursday’s afternoon doubleheader, which drew 6,194 paid attendance and about half that many in the arena for the opener.

Tonight’s game will match a veteran UTEP team, which split two games with SDSU this season, against a young Aztec team that received clutch performances from two freshmen, Lowery and guard Tracy Dildy, in the final seven seconds of Thursday’s game.

The Aztecs called time out with seven seconds to play when John Martens grabbed the rebound after Utah forward Jerry Stroman missed an eight-footer from the left of the foul line.

Stroman missed two other short jumpers in the final minute, but he scored a game-high 25 points and took the final shot Utah wanted. It didn’t fall on a day in which the Utes were outshot from the field 49% to 37%.

“I probably took the shot earlier than I should have,” Stroman said. “They tempted me and gave me the lane. I had an eight or nine-footer. I felt I got pushed, but it wasn’t called.”

During SDSU’s timeout, Gaines put Lowery back in the lineup.

Watson, who had a team-high 19 points, inbounded the ball to Dildy, who cut through a Utah press and quickly pushed the ball up the floor to Lowery on a three-on-one break.

“Smokey had enough confidence to put me out there,” said Lowery, who had 10 points. “If I got the ball and was wide open, I was going to shoot it. My shot wouldn’t have lost the game. The worst that would have happened is that we would go into overtime.

“When I got the ball,” Lowery said, “I took one dribble, squared up and fired. I feel very comfortable from the left side. That’s where I hit most of my shots.

“The ball felt good leaving my hand and I nailed it. The only other time I’ve won a game at the buzzer is when I hit a shot from the top of the key to beat McClymonds High in 11th grade.”

Lowery hasn’t had much chance to do anything in the clutch for the Aztecs.

He started the first seven games of the season and scored in double figures in six of them, but the team was 0-7 and Gaines took Lowery out of the starting lineup.

Lowery’s playing time dropped considerably and he began to lose confidence in himself and his shot. He finished the regular season with a 5.9-point average.

“I was kind of down,” Lowery said, “but Smokey told me not to worry about it. He said I was too young to worry about it.”

Lowery’s jumper won the game, but a bench-clearing brawl midway through the first half played a pivotal role.

The game was rough from the outset.

With 9:15 to play in the first half and Utah holding a 23-22 lead, SDSU freshman reserve guard Johnny Scruggs and Utah freshman center Mitch Smith started fighting under the Aztec basket.

“It started when Smith fouled Steffond (Johnson),” Scruggs said. “Then Smith grabbed me and blew breath in my face. I knew something would go down now. He pushed me and I swung. Than the benches cleared.”

Players and coaches raced onto the court and numerous punches were thrown.

When order was restored, Scruggs and Smith were ejected because they both threw punches, said official Bobby Dibler.

Smith admitted pushing Scruggs.

“I deserved to get kicked out,” Smith said, “but a few others should have to. I got punched pretty good a few times. I heard it was Watson.”

Said Scruggs: “I don’t think I should have been kicked out. It must not have been my fault because the coach (Gaines) didn’t really get on me and he doesn’t tolerate violence on the court.”

Since Scruggs was averaging four points and 2.9 rebounds per game and Smith was the Utes’ top rebounder with 7.9 per game, it wasn’t exactly an even exchange.

“That’s obvious,” said Utah Coach Lynn Archibald. “We lost one of our key players and our leading rebounder. I wish they had lost Watson. Luckily nobody got hurt. However, we got hurt in the game.”

The Aztecs, eighth in the WAC in rebounding, outrebounded Utah 49-36. Forward Kevin Brown had 10 rebounds and 8 points, Martens had 8 rebounds and 14 points and Dildy had 8 rebounds.

“When Smith went out of the game,” Martens said, “it certainly didn’t hurt us.”

After the brawl, the Aztecs quickly took a 34-26 lead. However, Utah came back to trail, 41-40, at halftime.

Early in the second half, buoyed by the support of cheering Wyoming fans, the Aztecs scored 11 straight points to take a 60-49 lead with 12 1/2 minutes to play.

However, as has been their pattern throughout the season, the Aztecs allowed their opponent to come back. The game was tied, 69-69, with 2:52 to play and, 71-71, with 1:27 to play.

The next basket won it.

“Josh is a good shooter and that was a great shot for him to make,” Gaines said. “Josh could become one of the top scorers in school history.”

That is, if he isn’t fielding ground balls and hitting game winning singles.