They call it “Home Run.”

It’s basically a play designed for being down two with 1.1 seconds left in the NCAA Tournament.

Matt Mitchell inbounds on one baseline, while Trey Kell sets a backscreen for Malik Pope at the opposite free-throw line. Pope cuts to the basket, ideally taking defenders with him, while Kell cuts to the top of the key for Mitchell’s 70-foot pass.

Kell then has two options. Shoot if he’s open, or quickly pass to Devin Watson or Max Montana streaking toward the corners.


“Simple read,” Kell said. “If I have a good look, turn around and square up and shoot it. And I wasn’t able to knock it down.”

Houston 67, San Diego State 65.

“You know, it’s funny,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “You work on that play and then you never use it (all season). You never use it, and then the opportunity comes. I thought we executed it great. I mean, at that point in the game to throw the length of the floor, catch it at the top of the key and a turn-shoot from your senior captain to win the game, you can’t have a better look.

“So I know Trey was probably heartbroken it didn’t go in. But there’s no play you’re going to draw up to get a better look than with the length of the floor and one second to go. The kids executed something they hadn’t done all year, and did it at that moment, and the ball just didn’t go in.


“And that’s March, and it’s the NCAA Tournament.”

A hot commodity

As the season ends and the Aztecs say goodbye to their three seniors, there might be another departure.

Associate head coach Justin Hutson has been considered for several jobs across the West in recent years, and he has already been mentioned as a possible replacement for Rodney Terry at Fresno State. On Monday, Terry accepted the job at UTEP.

Hutson has been picky about which jobs he interviews for, but this makes sense. He is from the San Joaquin Valley, growing up the son of a legendary high school coach and winning a pair of Division II NCAA titles with Bakersfield (before it went Div. I). At age 46, he is at the prime age for becoming a head coach.


And now that the Aztecs’ season is over, other schools can request permission to contact him.

A second chance

Down one, Houston guard Rob Gray had turned the ball over in the closing seconds against Cincinnati last Sunday in the American Athletic Conference tournament final. The Cougars lost.

Thursday night, he had the ball in a tie game as the clock ticked inside five seconds. This time, he delivered with a twisting, scooping layup with 1.1 seconds left.

“A small thought ran through my head,” Gray said. “I was thinking about Cincinnati, how I had a final chance to win the game for us and didn’t. So I just wanted to come through for my team and just give all the U of H fans the feeling they haven’t had since 1984.”


The significance of 1984? That’s the last time the Cougars had won an NCAA Tournament game, 34 years ago.

Notable

The Aztecs are now 0-9 as the worse seed in the NCAA Tournament. They also had their streak of reaching the round of 32 snapped at three. They made it in their last three appearances: 2013, 2014 and 2015 … SDSU was 15-0 this season when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting. Houston shot 37.3 percent. (SDSU shot 37.0). It had also won seven straight when winning the battle of the boards … Jalen McDaniels’ 18 points were one shy of his career high … Malik Pope’s double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) was the 10th of his career … Houston had just five assists and one block. SDSU had 11 and five.


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mark.zeigler@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutzeigler