#WhatIf tournament: San Diego State bounced in Sweet 16

San Diego State’s magical season came to an end Friday in the Review-Journal’s What If Tournament.

The second-seeded Aztecs blew a 16-point halftime lead and were eliminated from the West Region in the Sweet 16 when No. 11 Richmond rallied for a 76-74 win.

Grant Golden scored off the glass from the right block with 9:06 to play to give the Spiders their first lead. The lead changed hands eight times over the next five minutes before Richmond finally led by more than one possession.

Malachi Flynn’s 3-pointer got the Aztecs within two with 20 seconds left, but Golden knocked down a pair of free throws to put the game away.

Flynn’s layup beat the buzzer on the other end as the Spiders were already celebrating the victory. He finished with 25 points and eight assists, but backcourt mate K.J. Feagin shot 1 of 7 on 3-pointers and scored just five points.

Yanni Wetzel, the only other San Diego State player in double-figures, added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Golden had all 11 of his points in the second half, adding eight rebounds and seven assists.

Blake Francis led Richmond with 23 points to help the Spiders pull off the biggest upset on Friday:

West Region

(4) Oregon 93, (1) Gonzaga 92 — Freshman N’Faly Dante’s only basket of the second half came on a dunk off a feed from a triple-covered Payton Pritchard with four seconds left to give the Ducks the win.

Pritchard had 42 points and put Oregon ahead with a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining only to see the Bulldogs retake the lead on Anton Watson’s short jumper 17 seconds later. The lead changed hands four times in the final minute.

Filip Petrusev finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for Gonzaga, which shot 52 percent from the field but allowed the Ducks to go 10 of 21 on 3-point attempts.

South Region

(1) Baylor 82, (13) North Texas 73 — MaCio Teague scored 16 points to lead four Bears in double figures as Baylor used a 14-2 run early in the second half to take control.

The Mean Green, one of the biggest surprises of the tournament, led 40-36 at halftime in a battle of Dallas-area programs that took place in Houston.

Umoja Gibson went 5-for-8 on 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 19 points for North Texas.

Jared Butler had 15 points and five steals for Baylor, which forced 21 turnovers.

(3) Villanova 81, (10) Texas Tech 71 — Justin Moore shot 10 of 12 and finished with 26 points in the win for the Wildcats.

It was a season-high for the talented freshman guard, who made all four 3-point attempts and added six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Red Raiders trailed by as many as 18, but got within five points with 7:14 left before Moore keyed a 6-0 Villanova run to put the game away.

Saddiq Bey added 18 points for the Wildcats.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.