ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — University Arena, its official name that no one uses, was built in the mid-1960s by digging a hole 37 feet deep in the dirt lot across the street from New Mexico’s football stadium.
Sponsorship deals have given it several different names over the years, including WisePies Arena after a local pizza joint, but everyone just calls it The Pit.
And that’s the abyss where San Diego State, and its hopes of a Mountain West regular-season title and an at-large NCAA Tournament invitation, descended on Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd and a national CBS television audience.
The Aztecs’ 81-76 loss — their third in four games — drops them into a tie with New Mexico for second place at 13-5 in the Mountain West behind Utah State with two games to play. It also increases the already strong likelihood that SDSU needs to win the conference tournament in Las Vegas to avoid missing the Big Dance for the first time in six seasons.
“It’s frustrating, obviously,” said Miles Byrd, who lost 62-48 and 88-70 in his last two trips here. “These are the more frustrating ones than when we come in and lose by 15, when you’re ahead the whole, entire first half and it’s back and forth the whole second half.”
Saturday was the 46th and likely final time these schools will play men’s basketball at The Pit, given their different conference affiliations next season. And they honored the building and the series with an instant classic that involved numerous clutch baskets and a curious decision on a crucial video review.
The latter came with 31.8 seconds left and the Lobos clinging to a 77-76 lead. They had just inbounded into the corner to 5-foot-10 freshman guard Uriah Tenette, where he was promptly trapped by 6-5 Elzie Harrington and 6-6 Tae Simmons … and appeared to fumble the ball out of bounds.
Official Steve McJunkins pointed in New Mexico’s direction, and SDSU coach Brian Dutcher swirled his finger in the air to initiate a video challenge with his final timeout.
Gene Steratore, CBS’s rules analyst, told the broadcast crew he saw it as “Aztecs ball.”
The officials did not, upholding the call on the floor after a lengthy discussion. They told SDSU coaches the ball last touched Simmons’ jersey, although CBS replays seemed to show daylight between the ball and his jersey.
The Lobos couldn’t inbound against the press and called their final timeout. They still struggled before passing to Tomislav Buljan, whose touch pass ahead slipped and arched high in the air. Byrd and New Mexico guard Deyton Albury leaped for it, and Byrd ultimately was whistled for a foul.
Albury’s two free throws pushed the margin to 3, and an off-balance attempt at a tying 3-pointer by BJ Davis hit nothing.
“BJ takes big shots and makes big shots,” Dutcher said. “Even though BJ’s shot at the end probably wasn’t ideal, he’s still the guy who made the shot to win the first New Mexico game and he hit the half-courter to beat Boise. I thought Elzie had a chance to take it when he caught it, and he went back to BJ.
“BJ took a hard shot, but I liked the fact that he wanted the ball and wanted to take it.”
Lobos guard Deyton Albury, right, passes the ball around San Diego State guard BJ Davis at the Pit on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (Jessica Baca, The Albuquerque Journal)
A minute earlier at the other end, with the score knotted at 74-74, New Mexico senior (and St. Augustine High School alum) Luke Haupt got a cleaner look that proved to be the biggest shot of the game. Tenette drove the lane, Simmons collapsed, Tenette kicked to Haupt on the left wing … swish.
Said Dutcher: “Luke, we’re not playing him as a shooter, we’re playing him as a driver. That’s what he does. He’s looking to drive and gets guys a basket. But he didn’t shy away from the moment and made a really big 3 with the game on the line.”
Added New Mexico coach Eric Olen: “We didn’t draw it up for him. I know it just landed on him, and he knocked down a big shot. He’s wide open, and we want him to let it rip.”
Said Haupt: “I found a window, and he saw me. As soon as the ball was coming, I knew it was going up. As soon as it came out of my hands, I knew it was in. I’ve shot that shot, I can’t tell you how many times in practice. Even though there’s 15,000 screaming in there, it’s still the same shot.”
The real problem for the Aztecs, though, was less what happened in the closing minutes than the first 37, when they couldn’t do two things:
Take or make free throws, going 13 of 22 at the line compared to 25 of 36 for the hosts;
And stop Buljan, the 6-9, 240-pound “freshman” who is actually a 23-year-old, grizzled Croatian pro granted one year of collegiate eligibility. He had 20 points and 14 rebounds in the first meeting, an 83-79 SDSU win at Viejas Arena on Jan. 17, and was even more dominant Saturday with 24 and 18.
Nine of those rebounds came on the offensive glass, or two more than the entire SDSU team. The Lobos had a 14-7 edge in offensive rebounds and 16-7 in second-chance points.
“He was a one-man show in the paint, and they needed every one of them,” Dutcher said. “We didn’t provide enough resistance around the basket.”
The Aztecs (19-9) were superior in most other statistical categories, outshooting the Lobos 45% to 39.3%, making one more 3, distributing six more assists, blocking four more shots and holding edges in points from turnovers, fast breaks and the bench.
Dutcher went with a 10-man rotation, not playing Jeremiah Oden again, and got 17 points and seven rebounds from Byrd. Davis and Magoon Gwath each had 11, and Harrington had 10.
Reese Dixon-Waters finished with five points on 2 of 8 shooting, his lowest scoring output in the last 19 games and 10 less than he had in the first half Wednesday against Utah State. Pharaoh Compton played a season-low 7½ minutes and had two points and one rebound.
The Aztecs picked up where they left off from Wednesday’s 89-72 drubbing of first-place Utah State, frenetically switching on defense, zooming the ball across the perimeter on offense, racing to leads of 18-9 and 25-14 and 30-19 after 14 minutes.
And then …
Five straight empty possessions from three misses and two unforced turnovers.
They surrendered a 17-7 run to close the half and the lead was down to 37-36 — and the sellout crowd was back engaged. The Lobos took their first lead since the early moments with 15 minutes left. In all, the Aztecs led for 22:30, compared to 14:30 by New Mexico.
In the end, the guys from San Diego beat the team from San Diego.
Haupt had 17 points, his second most this season, to go with four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 34 minutes. Carlsbad High School alum Jake Hall had 14 points in a game-high 33 minutes. And they’re coached by Olen, who spent the previous 21 years at UC San Diego.
“I’ve always wanted to beat these guys,” said Haupt, who also spent five years at Point Loma Nazarene University. “It was special. This environment was special. This rivalry that I’ve heard so many things about that I saw tonight first-hand. The fans were great. It was kind of beyond imagination for me.
“It was awesome.”
Notable
Next up: at Boise State on Tuesday (6 p.m. PST, CBS Sports Network) … The officials and their Kenpom rankings: Michael Irving (54), Nate Hall (92) and McJunkins (114) … SDSU is now 13-33 at the Pit … The Lobos had 17 turnovers in the first meeting and only six this time (and only one in the second half) … The student section chanted, “Eric Olen, Eric Olen” when the Lobos head coach walked down the ramp into the arena before tipoff.
