FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Live by the 3, lose by the 3.
The Colorado State Rams sank a season-best 14 3-pointers Tuesday night only to watch Lorrenzo Wade beat them on a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left that gave San Diego State an 83-82 win at Moby Arena.
“First of all, I’ve never played against a team that shot the ball as well as they did, especially from three,” said Wade, whose game-winner barely fluttered the net.
Marcus Walker, the Mountain West’s leading scorer, sank 5-of-7 from long range, Jesse Woodard was 4-for-7 and reserve Flynn Clayman was 3-for-3.
“It was very tough to guard them because you had to play them for the shot but they’re also quick enough to get to the basket,” Wade said.
Yet, it was the Rams who got confused in their perimeter defensive assignments in the closing seconds.
Center Ronnie Aguilar ended up on Wade on his game-winning shot.
“Our big guy went out and switched and that wasn’t the intent,” Rams coach Tim Miles said. “Hadn’t been the intent all night. They got the screen good, so Andre (McFarland) was a little behind, so Ronnie over-helped. And then we were trapped. Ronnie was a little soft and Wade knows a good shot when he sees it and he made it.”
Wade said he thought for a split second about driving to the basket for the tie.
“I thought about hesitating and then getting to the basket, but I figured, hey, we played this game, we love this game, you dream about that as a kid in your backyard, you’re screaming out three, two, one! It didn’t quite go down that way, but if I had to do it again, I’d shoot the same shot.”
Overall, the Rams outscored the Aztecs 42-12 from long-range and were 14-of-25 from three-point range, but that didn’t prevent Colorado State from losing its seventh straight game and falling to 6-14 overall and 0-6 in league play.
“They’re getting these same kinds of shots against everybody they play; they just haven’t shot it as well,” Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said. “Their guards have the capacity to blow by you, so you’ve got to respect that. They just haven’t been able to find a way to get one more point than their opponent, but if they shoot it like they did tonight, they will.”
The Rams had one last chance to snap their losing streak and give Miles his first conference victory, but Willis Gardner hit the rim with a runner and Ryan Amoroso pulled down the rebound for San Diego State (15-6, 5-2) as the buzzer sounded.
Wade’s 3-pointer came 20 seconds after Walker sank his fifth 3-pointer, putting the Rams up 82-80.
“I thought we relied too much on the 3, but it carried us through the day,” Miles said. “We got some good 3s with feet in the paint in the second half. As the time goes on that’s harder to do.
“This is like the gold miner that has the rock and has the pick ax,” Miles added. “He’s hammering on that rock and hammering and hammering. You just never know when that rocks is going to break.”
Amoroso led the Aztecs with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Wade had 18 points and Billy White had 17.
San Diego State, off to its best start in 23 years, was coming off consecutive three-point losses to BYU and UNLV.
Walker’s 26 points led the Rams, who also got 18 points from Woodard and 12 from Clayman in an entertaining game that featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes.
“Having to shoot 3s hurt us at the end,” Woodard said. “The shots that fell most of the game didn’t bounce in at the end.”
