RENO, Nev. _ All San Diego State's basketball team needed was to get away from Viejas Arena.
Get into altitude.
Get into a venue where the hosts had won 20 straight conference home games.
Get in front of 10,855 fans cheering against them.
The Aztecs returned to being the team that was 26-0 instead of the one that struggled through a pair of home games, coming from 13 down in the second half Saturday to beat Nevada and end its Mountain West win streak at Lawlor Events Center that stretched back three seasons (and cast a pall over Senior Night proceedings that followed the game).
They did it behind 36 points from Malachi Flynn that, if anyone had any doubt, likely clinched conference player of the year honors for the junior transfer from Washington State.
But they also did it with Matt Mitchell in foul trouble for most of the game.
And Yanni Wetzell going the equivalent of two full games without a basket.
And KJ Feagin rolling an ankle badly enough midway through the second half that coach Brian Dutcher was consoling him on the floor.
Feagin gutted it and returned, and so did the Aztecs, surviving on a blood Saturday for teams in the Associated Press top 25. Eight of them lost, six against unranked opposition.
The Aztecs finish the regular season 28-1 overall and 17-1 in the Mountain West, the lone blemish being last weekend's 66-60 loss against UNLV. Next up is the conference tournament, where they'll play Thursday at 11:30 a.m. against the winner of the 8 and 9 seeds the day before.
Whoever they play, figure their game plan will focus on SDSU's No. 22.
"Twenty-two is a baller, I'll admit that," said one student who had been screaming insults at the SDSU bench all night as the final seconds ticked off. "He can play."
Flynn never subbed out of a game played at 5,000-plus feet above sea level, but why would he when he was playing like that? He had 19 points in the first half, then another 17 over the final 20 minutes. That included SDSU's final six points after Nevada closed to within one possession _ a step-back jumper, a driving, twisting left-handed layup in traffic, and two free throws.
He shot 13 of 20 overall, 3 of 6 behind the arc, 7 of 7 at the line. He also had five rebounds and five assists. The 36 points are the most by an SDSU player since Brandon Heath had 37 in 2005.
Feagin added 14 points. Jordan Schakel had nine. Wetzell and Mitchell had eight each.
One problem from the previous two games was solved early: offensive production from Flynn and Feagin.
After combining to shoot 29.4% in the last two games, one a loss and the other a near-loss, they opened Saturday by making their first six attempts between them _ four of them 3s. By halftime, they had 28 points between them.
The new problem: Only one other SDSU player scored, and that was Mitchell with four after being limited to eight minutes by foul trouble.
Another troubling trend that wasn't ended was the Aztecs' propensity to fall asleep on defense in the first half. UNLV shot 57.7% in the opening 20 minutes of its 66-63 win last Saturday. Colorado State shot 50% three days later in a 66-60 loss.
Nevada? It shot 56.7% in the first half, including 5 of 10 behind the arc. Seven different players scored, whether it was on 3s or pull-up jumpers in the lane or bigs slipping screens for dunks or drawing fouls to get to the line.
The Wolf Pack (19-11, 12-6) went ahead 21-13, only for Flynn and company to put together a 10-0 run to re-take the lead. Flynn scored the next 12 points, only for the Aztecs to go the final 4:52 of the half without a basket and trail 45-36.
The biggest difference was in the TO column of the box score. The Aztecs had nine turnovers, the Wolf Pack only two.
The Aztecs coughed it up twice more early in the second half as Nevada pushed the margin to 13. But they finally figured out how to take better care of the ball, and the ensuing 19-5 run gave them the lead at 58-57.
Then two bad things happened 21 seconds apart. With 12:35 to go, Feagin rolled his left ankle and sat on the floor for several minutes while the trainer and Dutcher attended to him. With 12:14 to go, Mitchell picked up his fourth foul and headed to the bench.
Mitchell wouldn't return until 1:45 left, but Feagin, after being helped off the floor to the locker room, was back after two minutes.
The Aztecs trailed 64-60 at the time, but soon led 73-66. And never trailed again.
