Mountain West Conference Tournament Recaps

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Nick Duncan scored 23 points to lift No. 25 Boise State to an 80-68 victory over Air Force in a Mountain West Tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday.

Derrick Marks finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists and Igor Hadziomerovic and Rob Heyer each netted 11 for the top-seeded Broncos (25-7), who will face fourth-seeded Wyoming in the semifinals on Friday.

Marek Olesinski led the ninth-seeded Falcons (14-17) with 14 points, while Zach Kocur and Hayden Graham provided 13 points apiece in the loss.

Consecutive triples from James Web III and Duncan highlighted a 13-2 Boise State burst to start the second half, making it a 45-30 game.

Olesinski hit back-to-back shots from beyond to whittle the deficit to eight points moments later, but Duncan followed suit to give the Broncos a 12-point edge.

After a Justin Hammonds jumper made it a five-point game with 5:29 to play, Marks and Hadziomerovic scored seven and six points, respectively, during a 13-2 run to seal the outcome.

In the first half, Duncan drained a 3-pointer and Webb knocked down two foul shots to give the Broncos a 17-8 lead, but a 9-2 Falcons spurt cut the deficit to just two points.

Mikey Thompson’s pair of free throws with three seconds left gave Boise State a 32-28 edge at halftime.

Game Notes

Boise State swept Air Force during the regular season and owns a 7-3 edge in the all-time series … The Broncos have won their last seven games and 15 of their last 16 … The Falcons outrebounded the Broncos 26-23.

Final Score: Wyoming 67, Utah State 65

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Josh Adams finished with 19 points and six assists as Wyoming held off Utah State 67-65 in a Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinal game on Friday.

Charles Hankerson Jr. scored 16 points, Larry Nance Jr. had 13 with seven rebounds and Riley Grabau netted 11 for the fourth-seeded Cowboys (23-9), who will take on the tournament’s first seed, No. 25 Boise State, in the semifinals on Friday.

Jalen Moore led the fifth-seeded Aggies (18-13) with 17 points and seven boards, while David Collette and Julion Pearre scored 11 and 10, respectively, in the loss.

Tied 26-26 at halftime, Chris Smith gave the Aggies a quick start by bookending an 11-2 run with 3s for a 41-34 lead just over five minutes into the second half.

Moments later, Hankerson rattled off eight points during a 12-0 burst that gave the Cowboys a 46-41 advantage.

Moore tied the game at 51-51 with a jumper, but Grabau responded with a timely trey that ignited a 7-0 run.

Moore hit a 3-pointer and after Grabau split a pair of free throws, Darius Perkins cut the deficit to 67-65 with four seconds to play.

Hankerson was fouled with two seconds to play and missed both free throws. Moore pulled down the rebound, but Utah State failed to get a shot off before the buzzer.

Final Score: San Diego State 67, UNLV 64

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Aqeel Quinn scored 21 points, hitting all but one of his six shots from 3-point range, as the San Diego State Aztecs held off the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, 67-64, in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Also scoring in double figures for second-seeded San Diego State (25-7) was JJ O’Brien with 15 points, followed by Winston Shepard with 12 points and a team- best 10 rebounds in the close call.

With the victory, San Diego State will now take on the Colorado State Rams in the semifinals on Friday for the right to play in the title game on Saturday.

The seventh-seeded Runnin’ Rebels (18-15) were led by Christian Wood with 21 points as he converted 10-of-20 from the floor, adding eight rebounds. Jelan Kendrick registered a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Cody Doolin with 10 points in the losing cause.

UNLV shot an impressive 54.5 percent from the field in the first half and at the other end limited the Aztecs to only six field goals through the first 20 minutes of action. But thanks to 9-of-10 shooting at the free-throw line in the frame, SDSU was able to close to within six at the break, 29-23.

SDSU opened the second half on a 12-0 run to take the lead, 35-29. From there the hosts had to fight their way back into contention, tying the meeting at 46-46 on a short jumper by Wood with close to eight minutes to play.

After hitting on an impressive 90 percent at the charity stripe in the first half, the Aztecs were sent to the line late in an effort to preserve the lead, but things tightened up as SDSU knocked down only 9-of-18 in the period. Still, UNLV was unable to fully capitalize on several late opportunities.

Final Score: Colorado State 71, Fresno State 59

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Daniel Bejarano scored 19 points and cleared nine rebounds as the Colorado State Rams defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs, 71-59, in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Stanton Kidd added 11 points, seven boards and four assists for the third- seeded Rams (27-5) as they set a new school record for wins in a season. Joe De Ciman and Gian Clavell added 10 points for the Rams, who will now take on San Diego State in the semifinals on Friday for the right to play in the title game on Saturday.

The sixth-seeded Bulldogs (15-17) were paced by Cezar Guerrero who tallied 16 points and five assists before fouling out, followed by Paul Watson with 14 points. Marvelle Harris, the team’s leading scorer (16.8 ppg), was held scoreless in the first half and finished with only four points on 1-of-10 shooting from the floor.

Fresno State’s first points of the night didn’t come until there was nearly five minutes gone by in the first half, as the team fell behind 8-0 out of the gate.

Late in the first half JJ Avila (eight points) went down with an apparent ankle sprain and left the court, going to the locker room for further evaluation with about six minutes remaining before intermission. He returned to the sidelines shortly thereafter, but was held out for the remainder for the game for precautionary measures.

Colorado State closed the first half on a 17-3 run to take a commanding 40-22 advantage at the break.

In the second half CSU was limited to only 29.2 percent shooting from the floor, including 1-of-8 beyond the arc, as the Bulldogs drew to within single digits.

However, with 3:36 left in the contest the Bulldogs suffered a fatal blow as Harris went down with an injury and had to be helped off the floor. At that point the score was 65-52 in favor of Colorado State.

The Rams outscored FSU at the free-throw line by a 22-6 margin.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball