The Aztecs do not have a dynamic offense. You would be extremely hard-pressed to find someone to argue that point.
But, they do have a dynamic defense, which enables them to rely on a somewhat unconventional offensive weapon:
Free Throws.
San Diego State has lived at the free throw line this season. Entering Saturday night's game at New Mexico, SDSU had made 42 more foul shots than their opponents had attempted. That's an impressive statistic.
And it makes what happened in The Pit even more inexplicable. The Aztecs only shot three free throws for the entire game, and missed all of them. It's not like the officials were favoring the home team, either. The Lobos only shot six free throws (making four), all of them by Cameron Bairstow.
That means 18 players got on the floor in this game, and only one of them made a free throw. San Diego State averages 17 made free throws a game. Had they gotten that average, they would have won.
Instead, the Lobos made their case for a spot in the Top-25 with a 58-44 win over the 6th-ranked team in the nation. New Mexico also pulls in to a first place tie with the Aztecs in the Mountain West Conference.
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Bairstow was a monster, scoring 26 points for the Lobos. The entire SDSU starting lineup only mustered 35 points.
These teams will meet again on the final Saturday of the regular season, at Viejas Arena.
