Playing in the First Four for the first time in program history, the San Diego State Aztecs saw their March Madness ambitions end early at the hands of the North Carolina Tar Heels 95-68 on Tuesday night at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
Five days removed from getting bounced in the quarterfinals at the Mountain West Tournament after shooting 5 of 20 in the second half, the shooting struggles continued for the Aztecs (21-10) as they made just 8 of 30 in the opening 20 minutes. North Carolina (23-13) made their first five 3-pointers en route to hitting 14 of 24 from downtown and torched the SDSU defense to shoot 52.6% overall.
"I just think this is a loss we're going to feel throughout the summer. We got punked and they whooped our butts," said Nick Boyd, who led the Scarlet and Black in scoring for the 14th time this season.
"I think this is something, yeah, we can definitely grow from and rally around and just take to the summer with us and hopefully be back here next year."
RJ Davis scored a game-high 26 points and went a perfect six for six from beyond the arc, while Jae'Lyn Withers had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Elliot Cadeau scored 9 points with 12 assists. Boyd and Wayne McKinney III each scored 12 points for the Aztecs, but the SDSU starters combined to shoot 13 of 39.
Magoon Gwath returned to the lineup for the first time since hyper-extending his knee at Utah State on February 22, but the Tar Heels penetrate-and-kick offense gave the Aztec defense problems all night. On the other end UNC rarely conceded paths to the rim, allowing only six layup attempts and a pair of dunks as the Heels outscored the Aztecs in the paint 30-24 and had a 16-6 edge in second chance points.
"They shot they ball well, obviously our game plan was not good enough -- we tried to switch ball screens, front, but they drove over us (and) they got it over the top," said head coach Brian Dutcher. "We got down by so many at that point, you're just trying to find a way to go on any kind of run to hang in there to make it where they might feel you at the end."
North Carolina had three main runs in the first half to take control, first going on an 8-0 spurt that saw Davis slash and score and then splash a triple. Miles Heide answered a put-back and then Boyd hit a 3, but UNC scored the next 9 points and after a Pharaoh Compton dunk ran off another 11 in a row.
All told, the disastrous stretch saw SDSU outscored 20-1 over a five and a half minute stretch that saw the Tar Heels open a 20 point lead. Davis closed the first half with another from downtown for a 47-23 North Carolina advantage, and they poured it on in the second half to lead by as much as 82-42 with 7:36 to play.
"I know we were one of the younger teams in the tournament, so luckily for those guys they get to get a taste of this and understand for preparation next season how much it means to just lock in on every play and don't take anything for granted and just work hard," McKinney said.
The Aztecs didn't make back-to-back shots until jumpers fell for BJ Davis and Jared Coleman-Jones nearly three minutes into the second half. SDSU made their final seven shots from the field McKinney drained a pair of 3's and Cam Lawin hit a last second triple to prevent the team from equaling last season's 30-point Sweet 16 loss to eventual national champion UConn as their largest in postseason history.
"The work starts now, recruiting starts. The portal opens shortly, and we'll find out who's coming back to our team (and) we'll find out who's available," Dutcher said. "We've always been able to piece together four-year guys and then add pieces out of the transfer market and find a way to have a good team.
"So that's the goal again, to retain the players that want to be here and then to add pieces in the portal and to keep San Diego State relevant at a national level."
This story was updated at 6:45 a.m. on March 19.