Mountain West Conference Tournament Recaps
Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Xavier Thames totaled 15 points and seven assists to lead eighth-ranked San Diego State to a 73-39 win over Utah State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Winston Shepard added 13 points and Josh Davis contributed eight points, 13 rebounds and six steals for the top-seeded Aztecs (28-3), who will face fourth-seed UNLV on Friday in the semifinals.
“Just with the flow of the game. Motion offense. We was moving the ball. Everybody was moving the ball. It was just the flow of the game. We played a great offensive game,” said Thames about his assists.
Jarred Shaw scored 14 points for the Aggies, who had won their previous three games on the heels of four straight losses.
The Aztecs rattled off the first eight points as the Aggies missed their first nine field goal attempts. SDSU later went on a 17-3 tear to take a 31-11 lead under nine minutes left in the first half.
Utah State trailed 36-15 at the break.
The Aggies never came within double digits the rest of the way as the Aztecs sailed to the finish.
San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher was asked how important it was to be able to rest his starters for a good portion of the second half.
“Hopefully it will help us. Not often do you get the luxury of having a big lead and you can say, Okay, how much can we take X out? How much can we rest him? He plays a lot of minutes. He’s not the only one, but he’s the one I’m most concerned about because he guards their point guard,” said Fisher.
“So to have that ability to do that should be helpful for us as we head into a quick turnaround for a game tomorrow and hopefully for a game on Saturday.”
Game Notes
The Aztecs outrebounded Utah State, 35-27 … Utah State scored a season-low 39 points, which are its fewest in a game since scoring 33 points at UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 10, 1994 … SDSU shot 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the floor, while Utah State made 29.3 percent (12-of-41) of its field goal tries.
Final Score: (20) New Mexico 93, Fresno State 77
Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Cameron Bairstow poured in 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead 20th-ranked New Mexico to a 93-77 win over Fresno State in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Tournament.
Alex Kirk also scored 21 points and Kendall Williams added 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Lobos (25-6), who will face the winner of Boise State in the semifinals on Friday.
“He’s always done a great job on him and held him to two points, which was key tonight. It’s like I told the guys, we win and advance,” said New Mexico coach Craig Neal.
Allen Huddelton scored 18 points, Alex Davis added 17 and Paul Watson chipped in with 16 for the Bulldogs (17-16), who shot just 39.7 percent from the field.
“We played I think one of the better teams in the country today. The way they played today in terms of the way they came out with the mindset to start the ballgame, they got off to a really good start,” said Fresno coach Rodney Terry.
New Mexico raced out to a 14-3 lead over the opening 4 1/2 minutes of the game. Fresno rallied to within five, 24-19, when Watson tipped in a Davis missed jumper at the 9:12 mark.
Williams’ three-point play with 6:18 remaining sparked a 13-4 run that had the Lobos up 42-28 and New Mexico carried a 49-35 lead into the break.
The Bulldogs were within 10, 55-45, after Harris’ three-point play less than five minutes into the second half, but New Mexico managed to stretch its lead to 16, 70-54, just past the midway point of the session.
Fresno couldn’t get closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Game Notes
New Mexico outscored Fresno 42-20 in the paint … The Lobos hold a 12-7 lead in the all-time series … New Mexico was 31-for-38 from the free throw line … Marvelle Harris added 13 points for Fresno … The Bulldogs committed just eight turnovers.
Final Score: UNLV 71, Wyoming 67
Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – UNLV held off Wyoming late in the Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinals en route to a 71-67 victory powered by its bench.
Bryce Dejean-Jones and Roscoe Smith scored 22 and 18 points, respectively, off the bench, with Smith adding 13 boards for the fourth-seeded Rebels (20-12), who will face eighth-ranked and top-seeded San Diego State on Friday in the semifinals.
Deville Smith was the lone UNLV starter to reach double digits with 15 points, shooting 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Josh Adams had a game-high 24 points and grabbed seven boards for the fifth- seeded Cowboys (18-14), who lost five of their last six. Jerron Granberry and Nathan Sobey netted 18 points apiece, while the latter brought down seven rebounds.
With three minutes left to play, Granberry nailed a trey to spark a 14-4 burst by Wyoming, which Sobey capped off with a three of his own that cut the margin to 65-62.
After the Rebels’ Jelan Kendrick split a pair from the line, Granberry converted a 3-point play with 23 seconds left on the clock to bring Wyoming within one, 66-65.
The Rebels connected on 5-of-6 from the foul line to put the game away, however, and Sobey missed a pair from the line and two 3-point tries — one of which was a prayer as time expired — over the final 17 seconds.
Final Score: Boise State 75, Nevada 62
Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Anthony Drmic scored 17 points to help Boise State take a 75-62 win over Nevada in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals.
Derrick Marks scored 16 points on 11-of-11 shooting from the free throw line and Ryan Watkins finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Broncos (21-12), who will face New Mexico in the semifinals on Friday.
Deonte Burton scored 22 points and Cole Huff added 17 points for the Wolf Pack (15-17), who shot just 32.1 percent from the field.
Nevada led 57-56 after a Huff 3-pointer and a Michael Perez layup with six minutes left, but a 9-0 burst put Boise State in front for good.
Boise was 10-for-10 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win.
The teams went into the break locked in a 32-32 tie.
Categorized in: NCAA Basketball