SAN DIEGO – Nevada fought back to tie Saturday night’s series finale at San Diego State twice in the final minute, but the Wolf Pack was done in by Trey Pulliam’s buzzer beater in a 69-67 defeat.
The Wolf Pack (8-5, 3-3 MW) went on an 11-2 run over four and a half minutes to erase a nine-point deficit and tie it at 62-62 with 54 seconds to play, then tied it once again, 67-67, with 4.6 seconds left on Grant Sherfield’s 3-pointer.
But Pulliam took the inbounds pass, drove inside the Aztec arc and banked home a pull-up from 15 feet as time expired.
KJ Hymes scored eight of his career-high 14 points over the final 3:38, including a jumper inside the paint which tied it up at 62-62. Jordan Schakel answered with a triple to put San Diego State up three, before the teams traded free throws, leaving it 67-64 and setting up Sherfield’s game-tying triple from near the top of the key.
Sherfield extended his 20-point streak to four, finishing right on the dot with 20 and passing out nine assists. Desmond Cambridge, Jr., scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, going 7-for-16 from the field including three triples.
San Diego State (9-2, 3-1 MW) took advantage of Nevada foul trouble, getting to the line 20 times, where the Aztecs cashed in on 16 freebies. Matt Mitchell scored 11 of his 20 points from the line and grabbed eight rebounds to lead San Diego State Saturday.
The Wolf Pack fought back from multiple sizable deficits in the contest, first trimming a pair of early 10-point holes to tie it up 31-31on a Kane Milling drive with 31 seconds left in the first half.
But Mitchell would hit a contested step-back 3-pointer with two seconds on the clock to send the Aztecs into the locker room with a 34-31 lead.
Nevada would grind its way back over the opening minutes of the second half, as Cambridge, Jr.’s jumper started a 10-5 burst which gave the Pack its first lead of the contest, 41-39, with 15 minutes to play.
But, again, Mitchell would get the Aztecs in front, converting a three-point play on the next trip down to make it 42-41. Leading 49-45, San Diego State would then get a pair of baskets from Aguek Arop, and a 3-pointer from Terrell Gomez to push its lead to nine at 60-51 with 5:38 to play, before the Wolf Pack made its run.
Nevada hosts Fresno State on Friday at 8 p.m. on FS1 and return to Lawlor Events Center on Sunday at 1 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
