Utah State's defense did exactly what it was supposed to in the final seconds of overtime Sunday at Nevada's Lawlor Events Center. It kept the ball out of the hands of Big West tournament MVP Olivier Saint-Jean of San Jose State (and Paris, France). He'd scored 27 second-half points and was a 3-point threat - the only way San Jose could win this game with USU up by two.
The Aggie defense forced the ball to Spartan 6-foot-9 sophomore Rich Taylor on the wing and dared him to beat them with a three.And he did.
So shocked was USU by Taylor's shot that, with :05 left to go court-length for a game-winning try of its own, it jogged the ball upcourt instead of racing it.
Aggie senior Silas Mills was aware of seconds ticking away, and as soon as he got the ball he shot. He missed, but it was waved off as too late by officials anyway.
The Spartans won 76-75 OT.
San Jose, 13-16, the bottom seed of the six-team tourney but winner of nine of its last 10 games, got the automatic bid to the NCAA subregional, where it will showcase MVP Saint-Jean (80 points in 87 tourney minutes) vs. Kentucky.
"What a way to go out," said Spartan coach Stan Morrison. SJSU moves to the WAC next year. "I'd like to tell you we drew (Taylor's shot) up that way," he said with an air that said they hadn't.
"It was supposed to go to Olivier," said Taylor, "and he really wasn't open. They sagged off. I guess they didn't think I could shoot the three." Taylor was 1-for-5 in the game.
Losing closed the careers of seniors Mills, Eric Franson, Jon Wickizer, Jermaine Womack and Novich Hunter. USU, the Big West No. 4 seed, learned before the game it wouldn't get an NIT bid at 18-15 with a low RPI rating.
Mills (43 points, 24 rebounds, 19 assists, six steals in three games) made the all-tourney team with USU junior Antwan Smith (31 points, 22 rebounds, mostly in the semifinal and final) and sophomore Justin Jones (55 points on 18-for-25 shooting, 10-for-12 on threes). Others were SJSU guard Tito Addison (defense on Jones and 30 tourney points) and Irvine's Raimonds Miglinieks (19 points, seven assists in his only game).
"I think we gave it all we had," said Mills, saying the final seconds were played slowly because, "We were just stunned, in shock that he made it."
Lawlor visitors wondered all weekend why the shot clocks atop the backboards go black with less than :35 left in a period. Most shot clocks also have game clocks, but here players have to look to the top of the overhead scoreboard to know what time remains when the shot clock's off. It was a problem in the Long Beach/USU game, with even game officials confused, and it left USU wondering at :05 OT.
Mills said he knew how much time was left, but Franson said, "I don't think `Pops' did." Pops is point guard Duane Rogers, who moved the ball upcourt slowly.
"Yeah, Pops wasn't aware of the time, but we all screwed up in this game; it started from the head coach," said Eustachy.
For, example he recalled :14 left in regulation when he told Franson to miss a free throw because someone told him USU had three fouls when it had eight. Luckily, Jones was grabbed by the throat and thrown down when he rebounded a missed SJS free throw and hit foul shots to knot it at 65 and force OT.
An Aggie walked off the line to negate a Franson free-throw try at 17:52 of the second half. And, "Jon holds himself responsible for not being out on Taylor, and that's not true," Eustachy added, though he told the team "no threes" in a timeout.
"I was out on the bottom of the zone. He just shot. It was a good shot. It went in," said Wickizer.
"He's only shot two all year; give him credit," Franson said of Taylor, now 2-for-3 from three.
Franson noted poor free throwing (20-for-32) and said, "Part of that (2-for-9) is my responsibility. You have to take the blame."
It hurt to be so close/so far, and players saw only the down side, not that they overachieved to win six of the final eight games to get to the championship. "It's a tough one to swallow," Eustachy addmitted. "It's amazing the fine line between guys jumping up and down in that locker room and a lot of guys crying.
"It was a great game. Neither team faltered," Eustachy said. SJSU's largest lead was seven, USU's was three. The Spartans took a 69-67 OT lead, but Jones made a left-handed layup followed by a three for a 72-71 Aggie lead, Saint-Jean made a fade, Franson a tough baseliner and Rogers a free throw to leave it 75-73 for the Ags before Taylor's shot.
"All the way to the last seconds, it took a 3-pointer to win the game. San Jose State deserves a lot of credit," said Eustachy. "I give our players credit, too."