SAN DIEGO _ Wyoming's basketball team must have been feeling pretty good about itself as the first half neared its end at Viejas Arena, winless in the Mountain West yet hanging around against the nation's No. 4-ranked team.
Then Malachi Flynn gave the Cowboys a little reminder of the kind of season San Diego State is having. The kind of magic that happens when you're still undefeated in late January.
Flynn was fouled with 3:09 left in the half, prompting a media timeout. As he walked to the bench and away from the basket, he flipped the ball back over his head from the free throw line.
It went in.
It didn't count, but it didn't need to. The Aztecs won 72-55 in a game that matched the only team that hasn't lost in conference (9-0) against the only one that hasn't won (0-9).
In attendance at Viejas Arena were two men in suit jackets who could be important in SDSU's march to March. Dan Gavitt is the NCAA's vice president of basketball. Mitch Barnhart is Kentucky's athletic director and the vice chair of the 10-person NCAA Tournament selection committee.
They saw the Aztecs improve to 20-0 and match the best start in 99 years of men's basketball on Montezuma Mesa, with a chance for No. 21 at UNLV on Sunday afternoon.
But the euphoria of pulling even with Kawhi Leonard's legendary 2010-11 team and what might come next was dulled with 13:42 left, when coach Brian Dutcher had to call timeout to sub out sophomore forward Aguek Arop after he appeared to have re-injured his right shoulder.
Arop initially strained it Dec. 4 at Colorado State and missed seven games, returning Jan. 11 against Boise State _ a full week later than scheduled out of what Dutcher called an abundance of caution. Arop bumped the shoulder on a drive across the lane and lost the ball. After Wyoming scored at the other end, he inbounded with his left hand and Dutcher immediately got him out.
The 6-6 Arop doesn't start but is arguably the most indispensable player off the bench, a player Dutcher calls "our Swiss Army knife" as well the team's best offensive rebounder and most versatile defender. His value is heightened without starting center Nathan Mensah, whom Dutcher gives only an "outside chance" of returning this season with what The San Diego Union-Tribune reported is a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung).
That leaves Dutcher with senior Nolan Narain and sophomore Joel Mensah as the only bigs on the bench, with career scoring averages of 3.2 and 1.9 points, respectively.
Arop immediately walked to the locker room. He eventually returned to the bench but not into a game that was closer than computers (and oddsmakers) expected. SDSU entered the day ranked No. 2 in the NCAA's NET metric; Wyoming was 298.
As counterintuitive as it sounds, SDSU has actually played better away than at home this season _ averaging more points and shooting better in games not played at Viejas Arena despite playing a weaker schedule at home. And that trend continued until the closing minutes. It was still a five-point game with six minutes left in the first half, and an 11-point game midway through the second half.
And suddenly Wyoming guard A.J. Banks stole the ball and was headed downcourt on the break.
But Flynn stole it back and fed Jordan Schakel for a basket and foul. The ensuing free throw pushed the lead to 14 and swayed the momentum back to the hosts.
Flynn led four players in double figures with 18 points, five assists and four steals. Matt Mitchell had 15, Yanni Wetzell 14 and Schakel 11. The Aztecs shot 54.3 percent, including 63.2% in the second half, against Wyoming's matchup zone defense. They were 9 of 20 behind the arc.
But the game was tighter for longer than expected because Wyoming, which entered the night ranked 337th in Division I in offensive efficiency in the Kenpom metric, figured out how to score against SDSU's defense.
The Cowboys managed to shoot 45.8% in the second half three days after Nevada managed just 14.7% here in the second half on Saturday. Hunter Maldonado was held to seven points, 10 under his average, and had seven turnovers, but senior guard Jake Hendricks had 20 _ a career high against Division I opposition _ after making five 3s.
