Aztecs Get Emotional WAC Win : College basketball: Brandenburg can’t say enough about key victory over Wyoming.

SAN DIEGO —  He stood there and talked about Arthur Massey’s clutch shooting, and Keith Balzer’s impressive comeback, and Joe McNaull’s key blocks, and Ray Barefield’s crucial steals, and . . .

The list of heroes went on. Ten minutes after San Diego State’s dramatic double-overtime Western Athletic Conference victory over second-place Wyoming, 87-84, Aztec Coach Jim Brandenburg stood outside a jubilant SDSU locker room Sunday night and tried his darndest not to leave anybody out.

“I’m so proud of this win and so proud of this team,” Brandenburg said. “These are the kind of experiences that, a year or two down the line, put us in good stead. . . .

“Balzer can’t hold his head up in (the locker room). He’s got nothing left. Joe McNaull would have had a few more minutes if we would have had the right match-ups for him. He made a big-time block at the end . . . Every one of the guys who played made a major contribution. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with this win.”

The Aztecs (9-10, 4-5) matched their total number for WAC victories for each of the past two seasons, when they finished 4-12 in the conference in each, in front of a crowd of 3,320 in the San Diego Sports Arena. They stung a Wyoming team (15-5, 5-3) that has flirted with breaking into the Top 25. Wyoming was off to the best start in Coach Benny Dees’ Cowboy career.

The Aztecs have had a bigger week this season--when they swept both New Mexico and Texas El Paso at home Jan. 17 and 19--but maybe not a bigger victory.

“I think it was (SDSU’s biggest victory of the season),” Massey said. “The two overtimes, coach’s old rivalry (Brandenburg was Wyoming’s coach for nine seasons) . . . I think we wanted to win it for him, and we wanted to win it for ourselves.”

The Aztecs didn’t have this one wrapped up until Barefield’s steal with just two seconds left in the second overtime. It was one of several clutch plays in the last minute.

Balzer’s 10-foot jumper with 51 seconds left in the second overtime gave SDSU an 86-84 lead, and after Courtie Miller blocked a Tim Breaux shot, Massey made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left to increase the lead to three.

Wyoming came down and fed the ball to guard Todd Barnett, who let fly a three-point attempt from the right side. Suddenly, though, McNaull, 6-11, came leaping across a few feet in front of Barnett, reached up and swatted the ball. McNaull hit the ball with his fingertips, deflected it, and it landed in Barefield’s arms with four seconds left.

It still wasn’t over. Barefield was fouled, went to the line . . . and missed two free throws. Wyoming rebounded, but Barefield stole the ball to wrap it up for SDSU.

And this came after Massey saved the Aztecs in the first overtime with a three-pointer with two seconds left to tie the game, 79-79.

There were clutch performances all around. Start with Balzer, who scored 17 points--and made seven of 10 field goal attempts--and played 29 minutes in his first outing since Dec. 22. He has been out with tendinitis in his right knee, and he gave the Aztecs a lift several times Sunday night.

“I didn’t expect to get as much playing time as I did,” Balzer said. “I just went out and played hard, and if it turns the tide, it turns the tide.”

Balzer, who will likely undergo surgery to remove scar tissue in the knee after the season, said the decision on when to come back was left up to him, and that he decided this would be the night after practice on Wednesday.

The list goes on. SDSU center Marty Dow finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds after being outmuscled in the first half by Reggie Slater and Reggie Page. Dow fouled out with 1:52 left in the second overtime, but the Aztecs hung tough.

SDSU’s guards--mainly Barefield, who started for just the third time this season--held Wyoming’s Maurice Alexander, averaging 17 points a game, to three. Massey finished with 18 points, Barefield with five steals and McNaull with two blocks.

And they overcame a yeoman effort by Slater, 6-7, 245, who finished with a game-high 31 points.

“Any positive things we can do this year are steps we don’t have to re-trace,” Brandenburg said. “Don’t forget--a lot of people picked (Wyoming) to win the WAC, or picked them one of the top two. We were picked eighth. We didn’t fold in regulation, and we didn’t fold in the first overtime. Those kinds of peak experiences have a tendency to temper a basketball team.”

There was no way the Aztecs should have been anywhere near victory in the second half. Was there? They were flat in the first-half. They weren’t moving offensively, shot a putrid 26.7% from the field, watched Slater pop for 19 points and trailed by as much as 16. They were down at the half, 45-31.

“At halftime we talked long and hard about executing and doing some things,” Brandenburg said.

And suddenly, they woke up. They went on a 10-2 run to open the second half and get to within eight, 49-41, and then spent the next several minutes chipping away at Wyoming. SDSU melted Wyoming’s lead down to six four different times before finally getting it to four, 59-55, on Balzer’s dunk with 7:32 left, and to two, 59-57, on Dow’s basket with 6:25 to play in regulation.

A minute-and-a-half later, the Aztecs took their first lead of the game, 62-61, when Balzer followed a Terrence Hamilton miss.

The Aztecs didn’t stop. They built a three-point lead, 71-68, but Alexander hit a three-pointer--his only basket of the game--with 20 seconds left in regulation to send it into overtime.

Ten minutes and two overtimes later, SDSU had escaped with one of its better victories of the season.

“I can’t remember anything past the buzzer going off,” Brandenburg said. “I live for today, and for the next ballgame. As far as I’m concerned, this is the biggest win we’ve had.”

Now, SDSU is one victory away from matching Brandenburg’s best WAC victory total at SDSU, which came in 1987-88, when he guided the Aztecs to a 5-11 conference record. The schedule doesn’t ease up, though, as SDSU travels to Brigham Young Thursday and Utah Saturday. Dating back to the mid-1970s, the Aztecs are a combined 2-25 in those two places.

But that comes later. For one night, the Aztecs were going to enjoy themselves.

“We’ve got some young guys who have some heart,” Brandenburg said. “Some courage and some heart. This was a big win for our program.”