SAN DIEGO — San Diego State has proven it can come back from 16 points down and win this season.
Seventeen? That's a bit too much.
The No. 18 Aztecs almost did it again Friday afternoon, recovering from another forgettable first half, trailing by 17 in the second half, tying it before losing for the first time this season and only the third time in 38 games, 72-62 against BYU at Viejas Arena.
The positive was the frenetic, dramatic comeback fueled by a career-high 35 points from Matt Mitchell.
The negative was everything that required them to do it.
It was a game eerily similar to their Dec. 6 win here against Pepperdine, except for the part about winning after a dreadful first half. The Aztecs had 20 points in the first half in both, missing shots, fumbling rebounds, throwing passes to open referees out of bounds, losing track of shooters, air-balling chippies.
Still, they managed to tie it at 61 with just under two minutes to go when Mitchell poked away the ball from Caleb Lohner and flew in for a dunk. After 7-foot-3 Purdue transfer Matt Haarms scored inside for the Cougars, Mitchell was fouled. He missed the first, made the second.
The Aztecs (5-1) never scored again.
Mitchell finished 12 of 17 overall and 5 of 9 behind the arc. Rest of the team: 9 of 40 and 4 of 16.
Jordan Schakel went from a career-high 25 points in last week's 80-62 win at then-No. 23 Arizona State to missing his first six shots (including a layup) and zero points through 30 minutes before finishing with three. Nathan Mensah went from career highs of 17 points and 15 rebounds at ASU to eight and three while battling foul trouble all game.
The Cougars, meanwhile, kept pounding it inside to their quartet of big men and, if the Aztecs collapsed, kicked it out to perimeter shooters. They shot 51.9% in the first half against one of the nation's best defenses and finished with a 30-20 edge in points in the paint and 40-26 on the boards.
They also answered every time the Aztecs landed a punch in the second half, five straight times scoring baskets or free throws on the next possession after SDSU cut the lead to single digits.
Alex Barcello led the Cougars (7-2) with 22 points. Four others had at least eight points.
The Aztecs returned to the familiar confines of Viejas Arena, but not necessarily friendly.
For some reason, without 12,414 faithful to energize them, they sleepwalk for the opening minutes of home games. Eight days earlier at Arizona State, their only road game of the season, no problem: They burst to a 14-2 lead.
On Friday: BYU 21, SDSU 10.
The Aztecs missed 14 of their first 18 shots and went five minutes without scoring before Mensah managed a three-point play with 7:05 left in the half. He was just the third SDSU player to score.
Meanwhile, the Cougars were running their offense, and running and running and running it, swinging the ball side to side, ball screens, dribble handoffs, drives and kicks, moving it inside and out.
The killer sequence came late in the half, with the Aztecs down by nine and on the verge on scoring on back-to-back possessions for the first time since the opening minutes. Joshua Tomaic was fouled, putting SDSU into the bonus, and went to the line for a one-and-one.
He missed, but Keshad Johnson wrestled away the rebound from a tangle of Cougars … and his 2-foot follow went one.
The Cougars grabbed the air ball and launched a fast break that found Spencer Johnson wide open in the right corner for a 3. Swish.
Tomaic bricked a 3-point attempt, and Barcello drained another 3 from the same corner for a 33-18 lead. A minute later, the Cougars pushed the margin to 17.
