Entering the 2018 NCAA Tournament, San Diego State had never won a tournament game where they were seeded lower than the team they played.
But they entered March Madness on a nine-game winning streak so being the 11th seed in the West region against the 6th-seeded Houston Cougars didn’t seem like an impossible draw … until they ran into 39 shades of Gray.
Cougars guard Rob Gray scored a career-high 39 points in a 67-65 win that ends the Aztecs season.
SDSU was done in by a sub-par shooting night. The Aztecs made just 4-of-12 shots from 3-point range but their true downfall was at the foul line. San Diego State made just 21 of 35 free throws.
The Aztecs were down 39-29 at halftime but finally found an offensive spark in the second half. Freshman forward Jalen McDaniels scored 13 of his 18points to help the Aztecs get back into it and the final 68 seconds were heart-stopping.
Junior guard Devin Watson made a 3-pointer to tie it 62-62, only to watch Gray come back down and hit another three to give the Cougars the lead back. Watson connected again to knot it at 65-all and then Gray did what scorers do.
The senior drove to the basket and made an acrobatic scooping lay-up with 1.1 seconds left to play. Aztecs senior guard Trey Kell had one final look but his off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced away.
Gray was undoubtedly the best player on the floor and single-handedly outplayed the entire SDSU senior class. Kelly, Malik Pope, and Kameron Rooks combined for 24 points in their final collegiate game.
San Diego State finishes the first season under head coach Brian Dutcher with a 22-11 record.
