TOMAIC TO THE RESCUE
On Senior Night, big man wished for last chance in Viejas and made it pay off
Three thoughts on San Diego State’s 65-64 win in double overtime against Fresno State on Thursday night, with a quick turnaround before the regular-season finale at Nevada today:
1. Exercyling
The guy SDSU players doused with water when he walked into the locker room played just 10 minutes and didn’t score: senior forward Joshua Tomaic.
He’s also, in the words of coach Brian Dutcher, “Why we escaped today for a victory.”
The Aztecs got only 18 minutes out of starting center Nathan Mensah, who fouled out in the first overtime. Dutcher initially went with Tahirou Diabate, a more natural 5 man, to cover Fresno State 7-footer Orlando Robinson. But after Diabate turned it over and fouled Robinson on a layup midway through the second OT, showing the wear of a season-high 22 minutes, Dutcher changed his mind and told his assistants: “Get Josh.”
They looked down the bench and didn’t see him.
Tomaic was past the bench, in the entrance to the tunnel, riding an exercycle with his hoodie on, trying to stay warm, just in case.
“He came off the bike and into the game, and he was ready to go,” Dutcher said. “That’s a credit to him for saying, ‘I’m not in as much as I want to be or I’d like to be, but when they need me, I’m ready to play.’ ”
Left on an island to cover Robinson one-on-one, Tomaic coaxed a missed shot and grabbed the rebound. Then, down one with 7.1 seconds left, Fresno State called timeout and drew up a play to isolate Tomaic on Robinson again from a sideline inbounds.
The idea was for Robinson to set a screen like he was trying to get a teammate open, only to slide into the post and have the ball entered directly to him while everyone else was positioned out top. But Tomaic sniffed it out and denied the pass, and the Bulldogs inbounded to guard Isaiah Hill instead.
Robinson then set a ball screen on him. Tomaic, having talked through contingencies with Trey Pulliam during the timeout, switched onto Hill so he couldn’t turn the corner into the lane.
Now 6-foot-9, 230 pounds was trying to cover 6-0, 165.
Tomaic stayed in front and, look
ing at the clock above the opposite basket, perfectly anticipated Hill’s step-back 3 — getting a fingertip on the ball that ultimately hit the rim short as the buzzer sounded.
It was a surreal experience, Tomaic admitted later, given his thoughts sitting on the bench as the final minutes of regulation ticked away.
“I was like, this is really the last time in Viejas,” Tomaic said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about how it just flew by. This is the last time I’m going to see this crowd. I just started embracing it even more, everything started connecting a little more for me. I got a little sad on the bench there for a second — good memories, some bad. I was wishing somehow I could play a little bit more or had a little more time.
“Then overtime happened (and) I got the chance to go back in. I don’t what to call it — universe, God, whatever. But, thank you.”
2. Fouling up three
It was another 65-64 win, at USD in 2013, that cemented SDSU’s habit of always fouling up three points with under 10 seconds to go.
It nearly didn’t work when SDSU turned the ball over late and the Toreros missed a decent look at a 3 at the buzzer. But coach Steve Fisher, who had been burned by not fouling in the past, stuck with the strategy, and he and Dutcher employed it ever since. And planned to do it again Thursday.
The problem was the Bulldogs had the ball down three with 20.7 seconds — too early for SDSU to hand them two points with the clock stopped. Fresno State tried to run a play for a quick basket, but it didn’t work and suddenly Hill had the ball 30 feet from the basket with the clock inside 10 seconds.
“Foul, foul, foul,” the Aztecs coaches screamed.
Pulliam heard them and swung his right arm into Hill’s body hard enough that Hill lost the ball. Official D.G. Nelson, standing 10 feet away, didn’t call it.
Hill retrieved the ball near the left sideline, was double teamed and looked for an open teammate. Robinson was closest, near the center court logo, but Lamont Butler — who had just subbed in for Matt Bradley as a defensive specialist — gambled and went to cover Robinson, leaving sharpshooter Junior Ballard alone on the right wing.
Hill fired crosscourt to Ballard, who made a 3 — his only basket of the game — and forced overtime.
Bradley: “Trey did attempt to foul. I didn’t think he wanted it to be too blatant. He reached for him. It looked like a clear foul.”
Keshad Johnson: “We tried to get that done, but sometimes it’s hard for the refs to make that decision whether it’s a foul or not. … The refs are human.”
Dutcher: “If it’s 13 or 14 seconds, you tell the ref, ‘If it gets under 10, we’re going to foul,’ and they know to look for it. … Sometimes I think the refs don’t want to call a touch foul with the game on the line. I can’t blame them for that. I think Trey definitely fouled him. But had we told the officials, ‘We’re going to foul under 10,’ they would have looked for it. That’s not on them. That’s on us.”
3. It's March, man
The Aztecs should know by tip-off tonight whether their game at Nevada has any seeding implications for the Mountain West Tournament next week.
The scenarios: If Colorado State beats visiting Boise State in a game that starts two hours earlier, the Rams get the 2 seed and the Aztecs are locked into the 3, win or lose against the Wolf Pack. The only path to the 2 seed is an SDSU win and CSU loss.
Now factor in that the Aztecs went to two overtimes 44 hours earlier … and two starters (Johnson and Pulliam) logged career-high minutes … and Aguek Arop is questionable after leaving Thursday’s game with a neck injury … and it’s their third game in six days (and sixth in 15) … and the Wolf Pack hasn’t played since Tuesday … and it’s at 4,590 feet … and their NCAA résumé (21 in Kenpom, 27 in NET) could absorb a road loss.
And the last time they had this kind of turnaround on dead legs against a fresh team, playing at Utah State in altitude two days after hosting UNLV, they had their worst defensive game of the season and suffered their most lopsided loss of the season, 75-57.
And this, too: They struggled to beat Nevada at Viejas Arena a month ago, winning 65-63 despite the Wolf Pack missing two starters (guard Grant Sherfield and 7-0 forward Warren Washington) who are now healthy.
So what’s the sage approach if your seeding is set, or even if it isn’t? Rest your regulars for the prospect of three games in three days at the conference tournament? Or try to keep winning at the risk of further depleting your energy reserves? Or go full throttle for a half, then reassess?
“It’s all about attitude,” Dutcher said. “I just told the kids after the game, ‘That was so much fun, I think we’ll do it again on Saturday.’ What else can you say? We’re flying out to Reno (on Friday) and we’re playing on Saturday. On the board tonight was: ‘Toughness, mental and physical.’ That’ll be on the board again Saturday. We’ll find a way.”
Sitting next to him during the postgame interviews was Tomaic. He shook his head at the mere question.
“It’s March, man,” he said. “No time for, ‘This hurts, I’m tired.’ It’s March. Only the tough teams survive. That’s our mentality.”