The possibility of a dream Maui Invitational final pitting San Diego State and Arizona is still alive thanks to the heroics of a little-known reserve guard.
San Diego State's Aqeel Quinn buried six threes in the Aztecs' 92-87 double-overtime victory over former Mountain West rival BYU, none bigger than the one that extended Monda night's highly anticipated Maui quarterfinal to a second extra sesson.
Quinn had just missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 34 seconds to go in the first overtime when the senior guard redeemed himself by poking the rebound away from BYU guard Chase Fischer and corralling it. That gave Quinn time to take two steps back behind the 3-point line — yes, a blatant travel that the refs missed — and bury a game-tying left-wing 3-pointer to force a second overtime.
As if that weren't enough, Quinn also had a couple huge moments in that next session, sinking the go-ahead 3-pointer against BYU's zone and adding a layup on San Diego State's next possession. He finished with 22 points, not bad for a point guard who transferred from Cal State Northridge after the 2012-13 season with no promise of a scholarship and had to earn one by impressing the San Diego State coaching staff with his work ethic that summer.
Quinn's big shots helped San Diego State win a game with unusually high stakes for November.
By escaping with a victory, San Diego State received the boost of a quality win on Monday night and cracks at two more potential marquee wins against Pittsburgh and either Kansas State or third-ranked Arizona the next two days. By suffering a narrow defeat, BYU gets no quality win bump from Monday, drains its strength of schedule with a matchup with Division II Chaminade on Tuesday and faces either rebuilding Missouri or middling Purdue on the tournament's last night.
The difference between those two scenarios is probably worth at least a couple seed lines in March. It also could be the difference between making the NCAA tournament field or missing it altogether, as eventual NIT champion Wichita State found out during the 2010-11 season.
Neither San Diego State nor BYU play in juggernaut conferences with gabs of potential elite opponents, so the impact of getting zero quality wins out of Maui would have been damaging for both. The Aztecs have a victory over Utah in the pocket and games at Cincinnati and Washington left on their non-league schedule. The Cougars have a trio of solid home games left against Utah, Stanford and UMass.
Though Quinn's outside shooting was a huge reason San Diego State was able to bust out on offense on Monday night, he also had plenty of help. Winston Shepard broke out of a slump to tally 18 points, freshman Trey Kell had 14 and J.J. O'Brien added 13 points and 9 rebounds, carrying the previously cold-shooting Aztecs to by far their highest scoring total of the season so far.
Of course, the Aztecs needed every point because BYU has a habit of making excellent defensive teams look pedestrian. Sharpshooter Tyler Haws and jack-of-all-trades Chrs Collinsworth carved up San Diego State for 47 points and BYU collected 17 offensive rebounds, enabling it to get back into the game quickly after falling behind 11-0 early.
Still, the rally went for naught, thanks in part to Quinn. Now San Diego State must see if it can regain its strength fast enough to beat a better-rested Pittsburgh team on Tuesday night.
The player who could have the most trouble with three games in 48 hours is O'Brien, who played 48 minutes on Monday night. Quinn, Shepard and Spencer each played between 37 and 40 as well.
So fatigue could be an issue for San Diego State, but at least it's in the winner's bracket rather than the loser's bracket. The quest to earn a rematch with Arizona is still alive.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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