New Mexico
3 thoughts: New Mexico 62, SDSU 48 … elevation, offense, and a rough day in San Diego
Three thoughts on San Diego State’s 62-48 loss at New Mexico on Saturday:
1. Effort or elevation?
One of the advantages of chartering home immediately after a midday game, as the Aztecs did Saturday, is you arrive early enough to go straight to the film room at the JAM Center and re-watch key parts of what transpired with the coaches’ input.
The Aztecs typically do that the following day before practice. This way, they can address the team’s worst performance of the season and then flush it so Sunday and Monday practices can be devoted fully to preparing for Tuesday night’s home game against 4-1 Colorado State.
“I’ve got a coaching staff that won’t let this linger, that won’t overreact to it,” said coach Brian Dutcher, whose teams are 34-4 in their last 38 games following a loss. “Yeah, we want to play better, the kids want to play better, I want to coach better. It didn’t happen. We will put it in the rearview mirror without completely disregarding it. We’ll learn from our mistakes, but we won’t sit here and obsess about it to the point where it will cost us an opportunity at home against Colorado State.”
The tricky part, though, is sifting through the carnage and determining how much is attributable to effort and how much to elevation. The Pit sits at 5,108 feet. And, for most of the young roster, this was their first trip into high altitude.
“When you try to sprint back, you’ve got a piano on your back,” SDSU’s Jared Coleman-Jones said. “Pushing through that is hard. It’s an adjustment.”
So do you beat up your players in film, or give them a pass?
“Maybe we were a step slow; it’s always hard to tell,” Dutcher said. “It’s such a fine line at altitude. Usually, most people think they’re holding their knees, they can’t catch their breath. It’s, you’re a half-step slow to a play because you’re a little winded and you can’t get to the spot you’re supposed to get to.
“There were times where, if we can’t run down a long rebound or we can’t get a loose ball, is that because we’re a step slow or we’re not tough-minded enough? You never know. You can’t confuse a lack of toughness and effort with elevation. You walk that line at elevation.”
How do you know which it is?
“You just do your best guesswork,” Dutcher said.
They’ll get more data points, for better or worse. The Aztecs have five more games in the mountains this season: at Air Force (7,981 feet), at Nevada (4,573), at Colorado State (5,025), at Utah State (4,770), at Wyoming (7,220).
Record over the past two seasons above 4,500 feet: 1-6.
Below 4,500 feet: 35-9.
2. Woes, with an O
Dutcher regularly talks about leaning on the defense on days when shots aren’t falling, and they weren’t Saturday morning at The Pit.
The defense was still good, really good. New Mexico shot 35.8% overall and 6 of 28 behind the arc (21.4%) with .92 points per possession — all ranking as their second-worst figures of the season. The Lobos’ 62 points were their season low and 23 under their per-game average.
But some days, even SDSU’s defense can’t save itself from its offense, and this was one of them.
How bad was it?
The .71 points per possession is by far their worst of the season (the previous low was .94) and the worst in 108 games — and the third-worst total in the past eight seasons.
Another way to look at it: Over the last two seasons, the worst points per possession figure they’ve been able to overcome in a victory was .95.
The elevation and The Pit was certainly part of it, but the offense hasn’t been trending well. While the defense has climbed to No. 5 in the Kenpom metric’s defensive efficiency, the offense has gone in the opposite direction and now ranks 122nd nationally. In conference games, the Aztecs are ninth in the 11-team Mountain West and dead last in effective field-goal percentage (which accounts for baskets behind the arc being worth more than inside it).
The worrying part: Only one team to receive an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament last year had an offensive efficiency ranking outside the top 75 (SDSU was 62nd). That was 10 seed Virginia at No. 200, and the Cavaliers lost 67-42.
3. A rough day
Saturday was not one of San Diego college basketball’s finer moments.
SDSU: The Aztecs scored 20 points in the first half, trailed by 20 and got pummeled in The Pit in front of a CBS national telecast with Bill Raftery. The lopsided loss cost the Aztecs five spots in Kenpom (from 31 to 36) and 10 in the NET (to 41). It also dropped them into a tie for fifth place in the Mountain West at 3-2, 2½ games behind co-leaders New Mexico and Utah State at 6-0.
UCSD: The Tritons appeared on linear TV (ESPNU) for the first time in program history, had students lined up across campus all day, led UC Irvine by six midway through the second half in the Big West showdown for first place and … shot 6 of 36 on 3s, got leading scorer Tyler McGhie only three shots, scored a season-low 52 points, lost by eight and had their 12-game win streak snapped.
USD: The Toreros scored the most points of the city’s three Division I programs with 56 … and lost by 47 at St. Mary’s after surrendering, gulp, 10 3-pointers and 62 points in the second half alone. The Toreros fell to 4-14 overall and 1-10 in their last 11 games.
The glass is half-full version, at least for SDSU and UCSD:
Less than three decades ago, the Aztecs were playing home games in Peterson Gym and had one of the worst programs in Division I. Now they regularly play across the street in front of sellouts at 12,414-seat Viejas Arena and went to the 2023 national championship game. For the last two years, big-boy Fox (two) and CBS (four) have televised six regular-season Mountain West games; SDSU has been selected for all six.
Five years ago, UCSD was in Division II playing in front of a few hundred family and friends at LionTree Arena. Saturday night, they had their second sellout (the other was last season against SDSU) and first game on an ESPN linear network (as opposed to their usual spot streaming on ESPN+).
“Our job as members of the basketball program is to continue to build great teams and play great basketball, and these types of environments are the result of that,” UCSD coach Eric Olen said. “If we put a good product on the floor, people will want to see that. … Disappointing night for us in terms of results and how that we maybe we played, but it is a glimpse of what’s possible and I’m excited that people got to see that.”
Originally Published:
New Mexico
Running hot and cold: New Mexico runners earn 17 All American awards at national XC championships
YOUTH SPORTS
Gianna Chavez earns fourth in boys 8-and-under race
New Mexico had 17 athletes earn All American awards at the 2025 National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship meet held Saturday at snowy Blue River Cross Country Course in Shelbyville, Indiana.
Gianni Chavez, of Albuquerque Athletics Track, earned his fourth USA Track & Field All American award with a fourth place finish in the 8-and-under boys 2K race. Chavez, an Osuna Elementary third-grader, ran his 2K race in a personal best time of 7 minutes, 44.9 seconds.
The top 25 individual finishers and top three teams earn USATF All American awards.
The Cougar Track Club 8U girls team, based out of Albuquerque, placed second and was led by Antonette Marquez, who finished 12th. Other CTC 8U girls team members include Kimberly Reed (31st), Viola Crabbe Maple (55th), Payton Pacheco (61st), Chloe Chino (85th), Emery Grieco (113th) and Zay’a Cheromiah (149th).
Others individual All American award winners include Ava Denton, of AAT, 16th in 13/14 girls 4K; Brynlee Reed, of CTC, 22nd in 15/16 girls 5K; Sihasin Fleg, of Running Medicine, 21st in 8U girls 2K; Eden Pino, of Running Medicine, 12th in 9/10 girls 3K; Nizhoni Fleg, of Running Medicine, 14th in 17/18 girls 5K; Brady Garcia, of Running Medicine, seventh in 17/18 boys 5K; Justice Jones, of Zia, 14th in 9/10 girls 3K; Emilo Otero Soltero, of Dukes Track Club, 12th in 9/10 boys 3K; Miles Gray, unattached, 21st in 9/10 boys 3K.
Also Saturday, at the Brooks Cross Country Nationals in San Diego, Eldorado’s Gianna Rahmer placed 17th in the girls championship 5K with a time of 18:00.7 and Moriarty’s Carmen Dorsey-Spitz placed 25th 18:09.4.
El Paso police seek suspect in East Side robbery, burglary
An unidentified man is suspected in an East Side robbery and a restaurant burglary on Oct. 20, 2025, in Crime Stoppers of El Paso’s Crime of the Week.
Provided by Crime Stoppers of El Paso
An Anthony, New Mexico man was sentenced to nearly two decades in federal prison for selling methamphetamine from a trailer on his parents’ property, authorities said.
A federal judge sentenced David Amaya, 43, to 19 years and seven months in prison on one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, New Mexico federal court records show. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release after he serves his prison term.
U.S. District Judge Margaret I. Strickland handed down the sentence on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the federal courthouse in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Williams prosecuted the case.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Ryan Ellison and FBI Albuquerque Field Office Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris announced Amaya’s sentencing in a joint news release.
Amaya pleaded guilty to the charge in September as part of a plea agreement that dismissed one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, court records show.
Anthony, New Mexico man sells meth on parents’ property
FBI agents began investigating Amaya after he sold methamphetamine to a “controlled buyer” in July and August 2024, the news release states. Controlled buys are when law enforcement uses an undercover agent or a witness to purchase drugs from a suspected drug dealer.
The agents obtained a search warrant on Aug. 22, 2024, for a “specific tow-behind type trailer that Amaya was known to be living in and conducting narcotics transfers out of,” a federal complaint affidavit states. The trailer was located on property owned by Amaya’s parents in Anthony, New Mexico, the news release states.
The trailer did not have a restroom, but agents found a small makeshift bathroom structure with a porta-potty inside next to the trailer. The agents then obtained a warrant to also search the small bathroom structure.
The agents found “a large quantity of white crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine” throughout the trailer and bathroom structure, the affidavit states. In the bathroom, agents found a clothing hamper with “a gallon zip lock bag full of suspected methamphetamine” hidden inside.
Agents found a black Ruger .357 caliber handgun containing five rounds of .357 caliber ammunition and a black Mossberg 500 E410 gauge shotgun on the bed inside the trailer, the affidavit states. The news release states agents found “hundreds of rounds of ammunition.”
They also found about 4.42 grams of methamphetamine on the bed and another 26 grams under the bed, the affidavit states. Agents found eight more grams of methamphetamine on a nightstand.
Amaya told agents during an interview that the methamphetamine was his, he had acquired it over a period of time, and did not realize how much it was, the affidavit states. He added he “needed the guns for protection, so people would know he has them, making him safer,” the affidavit states.
In total, the agents found 1,183 grams of methamphetamine.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
GRANTS, N.M. – The City of Grants is canceling this year’s annual Christmas light parade, citing the safety of the public and their own officers.
Dozens of floats were supposed to roll down Santa Fe Avenue on Saturday night, but Grants police are holding off until next year after three incidents where someone shot at law enforcement officers.
“It was definitely a difficult decision, but due to the incident that took place on December 8, where law enforcement was shot at in the area of Santa Fe Avenue, we made that decision to protect the citizens of Grants,” says Grants Police Chief Maxine Monte.
She says a New Mexico State Police officer was shot at while making a traffic stop. The officer walked away uninjured, but this was too much for the chief.
“We’ve had three different incidents where law enforcement was shot at. One was May of 2025, the other one was August of 2025, and then the recent event of December 8 of 2025,” says Monte.
It’s not a risk the chief wants to take, and points out people would be standing exactly where the last shooting happened.
“We have a lot of citizens that attend our parade, and our main concern was that they were out in the open in the middle of the night, and in the same area that our latest shooting took place.”
Grant residents will be able to see the floats during the day on Saturday. But even some daylight isn’t convincing some residents.
“I’ll be staying home,” said Amy Brigdon. “There’s too many people in the world that want to see bad things happen to other people. I’m not one of them.”
Police still don’t have a suspect for this week’s attempted shooting. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with the Grants Police Department.
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