New Mexico storms past San Diego State for the Mountain West tournament title

By Taylor Bern

Saturday, March 10, 2012 | 7:40 p.m.

It started with a six-foot taco. Then a shirtless, barefoot man in his mid-40s. And pretty soon a crowd of the rather large contingent of New Mexico fans who filled the Thomas & Mack Center over three days packed the court.

And somewhere in the middle of the chaotic bliss Saturday evening were the second-seeded Lobos, 68-59 victors against top-seeded San Diego State in the 2012 Mountain West tournament final. It’s New Mexico’s first tournament title since 2005, when current Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger was leading the way.

“Can’t even explain how it feels,” sophomore guard Tony Snell said. “Like dream come true.”

Tournament MVP Drew Gordon finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, his second straight double-double after registering 19 points and 13 rebounds in Friday night’s victory against UNLV. The Lobos (27-6) also got 14 points each from Kendall Williams and Snell, who joined Gordon on the all-tournament team.

Gordon felt slighted coming into the tournament because he lost conference player of the year to the Aztecs’ Jamaal Franklin. That chip on Gordon’s shoulder, which he said he’s not removing until the season is over, was a big reason he dominated in the paint.

“I’ve been saying this whole time that we need to end up on top, be able to look back and kind of laugh at some of the honors that weren’t awarded to our team,” Gordon said.

Despite the emotional victory against the Rebels late Friday, the Lobos came out fully charged as the aggressors against San Diego State. They led by 11 less than five minutes into the game, stretched it to 17 in the second half and never let the Aztecs get within a score.

Both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field, a good indicator of the tired legs that usually come with the third game played in three days.

“We just couldn’t settle into any kind of a flow offensively,” San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. “The more we missed, the faster we played. That ain’t a good combination.”

In fact, the Lobos' ability to pour their energy into the start of the game rather than save what they had left made a big difference. Snell was on fire from the start while Williams and Gordon played an inside-out game that the Aztecs weren’t ready for.

The most impressive thing about the game besides the Lobos’ start may be that San Diego State was able to make it a two-possession game down the stretch.

The Aztecs trailed by 11 with 1:55 to play. Twenty-five seconds later, it was down to five. They managed to do that thanks to a 3-pointer, a layup and a couple of New Mexico fouls that led to San Diego State free throws. It was the only stretch during the game where the Lobos looked at all rattled, and it briefly turned a blowout into a game.

That was really it, though. From the opening tip, the swarm of Lobos fans had little reason to believe that they’d be doing anything but partying on the court and watching their team cut down the nets. That’s exactly what they did, and they enjoyed every minute of it, taco, beer belly and all.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.