Aggies and Aztecs Survive OT Scares, Lobos run to an NCAA berth
There was some great action in Wednesday’s opening session of the 2023-24 Mountain West Conference basketball tournament.
The Fresno State Bulldogs pulled off a minor upset with a late flurry to send the Wyoming Cowboys home.
Favorite Colorado State escaped disaster by fending off a scrappy San Jose Spartan team who had them on the ropes late.
New Mexico, in a must-win situation, destroyed Air Force to earn a quarterfinal date with Boise State with a possible NCAA tournament bid on the line for the Lobos.
The quarterfinals are a step up in competition with the top four seeds seeing their first tournament action including the Nevada Wolf Pack.
#9 Fresno State vs #1 Utah State
The Utah State Aggies have been really good in close games this season with a 6-0 record in conference games decided by five points or less, and they once again had to win one in their quarterfinal matchup with Fresno State.
The Aggies got pushed all the way to overtime, just as they did on the road in the regular season in Fresno, but started the extra period with an 11-0 run to secure an 87-75 victory and meet the winner of #4 UNLV and #5 San Diego State in Friday’s first semifinal game.
The Bulldogs, who made 10 three-pointers in regulation, tried to steal the OT with the deep ball but missed their first four attempts and turned the ball over to Utah State twice. The Aggies did their job and made their opponent pay, with points after each of those possessions.
MW Player of the Year Great Osobor led the Aggies with game-highs of 29 points and 17 rebounds. The Utah State center also went to the line for 24 free throws, converting 15.
“It’s the Mountain West; it’s high-level basketball,” Osobor said after his monster day secured the win. “We tend to thrive in close games. I’m glad—I’m happy for our team’s resiliency and the way that we stick together in close games.”
The Bulldogs took the floor ready to play coming off of Wednesday’s win and held the lead by seven points at 33-26 with 2:45 left in the first half.
USU looked jittery and was aiming a lot of shots, but whatever MW Coach of the Year Danny Sprinkle said to them in the ensuing timeout seemed to snap his team out of their funk.
“The first 20 minutes of any tournament is the hardest,” Sprinkle said. “They had been on the court. They’ve played. They were in a lot more rhythm, and you could tell that in the first half.”
In less than a minute All-MW first-team point guard Darius Brown II ripped off his smoothest stroke of the game for a bucket and Osobor converted an and-one as part of a 7-0 run that brought USU back even at 33-33.
Utah State kept that momentum into the second half pushing the lead to nine at 54-45 with 14:05 left, but the Bulldogs refused to fold their tent.
Jared Weaver’s 19 points and Isaiah Hill’s 17 points and 10 boards led the way for Fresno State in the loss. Fresno State coach Justin Hutson announced in the post-game press conference that he would not be returning to coach the Bulldogs next season.
#4 UNLV vs #5 San Diego State
Jaedon LeDee scored 34 points, including the final five in overtime, and added 16 rebounds as the San Diego State Aztecs defeated the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels 74-71 in MW tournament quarterfinal action.
The Aztecs put the Mountain West on their backs in last year’s NCAA tournament, making a Cinderella-like run all the way to the national title game.
Backing that effort up in the MW has not been nearly as pretty. The Aztecs have made a more-than-occasional habit of starting games poorly on offense and relying on defense to give them a chance in the end.
SDSU stayed true to form during the first half in their quarterfinal matchup with UNLV, shooting an abysmal 9-of-33 (27%) from the field and just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
The lone triple came from Darrion Trammell on an egregious turnover on an inbound pass by UNLV’s Keylan Boone, who with 1.2 seconds left in the half threw the ball directly from under his own basket to Trammell at the top of the arc. Trammell found himself all alone and potted the three with 0:00 left on the clock.
Even Trammell seemed stunned at what had just happened as the ball went through the cylinder.
But that play changed a sloppy half from both teams that should have ended with the Rebels—who honestly weren’t much better shooting just 33% themselves—holding an eight-point lead. Instead, it was only five points at 27-22 and a huge change in momentum.
San Diego State breathed in new life during the break and came out on a heater. Led by Trammell and LeDee, the Aztecs put together a 12-0 run on 6-of-7 from the field and a suddenly perfect 3-of-3 from deep.
Five minutes into the second half SDSU had completely flipped the script after the turnover and held a 38-34 lead with 15:03 left to play. They were seemingly in control.
The Aztecs continued to widen the gap and built a 10-point lead with 6:33 to play at 60-50.
But the Rebels have a not-so-secret weapon in Co-MW Freshman of the Year Dedan Thomas Jr.
The Aztecs began to falter a bit, falling into a scoring drought for 2:23, something they have been prone to all year, and UNLV began to chip away.
Keylan Boone’s three-pointer with 4:10 left brought the Rebels within three at 60-57, and that’s when Thomas went to work.
The 18-year-old freshman hit six straight shots in regulation. The final bucket came on a spin move that had SDSU’s Jay Pal completely turned around as Thomas knifed past him for a finger roll and a 65-65 tie with a half second to go.
Credit to UNLV head coach Kevin Krueger for forcing the Aztecs MW Defensive Player of the Year Lamont Butler to switch off of screens and make Pal defend Thomas down the stretch.
A Boone runner and a pair of free throws from Thomas would stake the Rebels to a 69-65 lead to start the OT, but Trammell and LeDee would get them back even at 69-69 with 2:00 to go.
Thomas would make another driving layup on the next possession for the lead, but LeDee would score the final five points of the game to secure the win and move forward, ending UNLV’s at-large NCAA tournament chances.
#5 San Diego State will face #1 Utah State in the first semifinal on Friday evening at 6 p.m.
#7 Colorado State vs #2 Nevada
Colorado State had five players score in double figures led by Jaden Lake with 16 points, handing the second-seeded Nevada Wolf Pack an early ticket home with an 85-78 loss in the quarterfinal round of the MW conference tournament. CSU point guard Isaiah Stevens added 15 points and seven assists.
The loss puts Nevada’s final seeding and region for the NCAA tournament in some question, but they are likely still safely in the field as a 6-8 seed.
There will be a free Selection Sunday party at Lawlor Events Center beginning at 2 p.m. The NCAA tournament selection show, where Nevada will learn where, when and whom they play next week runs from 3-4 p.m. on CBS and will be shown on the scoreboard’s big screen.
The Wolf Pack suffered a disastrous first half, turning the ball over 11 times and shooting just 38% while getting in foul trouble early in the game.
It was clear that Nevada had some players who were not 100%, but head coach Steve Alford refused to use that as an excuse.
“We’re a little beat up,” he said. “Hunter is at home. We have guys—this is not an excuse at all. I told you we didn’t deserve to win. Colorado State very much outplayed us, but I don’t want our guys getting down. I want them getting healthy.”
“We just couldn’t get over the hump and take the lead. It isn’t easy losing the way that we did, but we knew we beat them twice this year, and they were going to come out and give us their best shot.”Jarod Lucas, Nevada Men’s Basketball
Nevada got off to a reasonable start, assuming a 5-1 lead just two minutes in courtesy of a Jarod Lucas triple.
Colorado State would answer with a 7-0 run, creating a 12-5 advantage with 12:58 left in the first half.
The Pack would settle down and get their defense set to slowly work their way back to a three-point deficit at 22-19 on a dunk by Tylan Pope with 6:55 left.
Alford commented on the defense, “We didn’t have too many answers for them defensively. We’ve been a good defensive team all year, and we couldn’t—we just couldn’t guard them.”
Early foul trouble for Nick Davidson would dictate that Pope give the Pack extra time on the floor and he contributed eight points, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line, along with strong defensive play in his 11 first-half minutes. Lucas would lead Nevada in the half with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
But the Rams would reassume control with a 22-10 surge over the next five minutes, keyed by Lake canning three-pointers on three straight Colorado State possessions, rebuilding the lead to 15 points, 41-26 with 1:02 left in the half.
Nevada would finish the half on a 7-2 run to get within 10 points at the break 43-33.
Colorado State’s Lake and Nique Clifford shot a combined 9-of-10 accounting for 25 of CSU’s 33 first-half points.
Nevada looked a bit more organized coming out of the half, playing with more pace and improving their defensive rotations. A pair of buckets from Kenan Blackshear keyed a quick 9-2 run and Nevada had crept back with three points at 45-42.
“There were a couple of moments in the second half where we cut the lead down,” Jarod Lucas said of the effort. “We just couldn’t get over the hump and take the lead. It isn’t easy losing the way that we did, but we knew we beat them twice this year, and they were going to come out and give us their best shot.”
The Pack had begun to swing the momentum, but CSU grabbed it back when Clifford blocked K.J. Hymes’ dunk attempt.
Moments later Davidson, who had picked up two early fouls in the first half, would commit number three and four in the span of seven seconds, sending him to the bench with 16:19 left and Nevada trailing just 50-45.
A 14-5 run for the Rams ensued over the following 5:47 as Nevada struggled to adjust to the Rams’ offensive movement, pushing the lead back to 14 at 64-50.
With foul trouble becoming a problem for both teams, Colorado State managed to keep the lead at 10 with 2:16 on the clock. That’s when Kenan Blackshear decided, with Lucas struggling through a 1-for-6 second half, it was time to take the team on his back with one last push.
The 6’- 6” converted point guard, who appeared to be completely exhausted, simply willed the Pack back within striking distance with six consecutive points, cutting the lead to 82-78 with 40 seconds to go and giving Nevada a sliver of a chance to somehow pull out the win.
A weary Blackshear was asked about his thoughts heading to the NCAA tournament.
“As a point guard, it starts with me,” he said. “I have to have better pace. Coach Alford preaches that religiously to me. We should have been more connected really on the offensive end. We’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out and just represent Nevada, it’s on our chest.”
Alford ordered Lucas to foul Clifford on the next possession, who knocked down both shots to push the advantage back to six.
Tre’ Coleman’s three-point then attempt missed the mark. Daniel Foster grabbed the rebound and quickly wheeled the ball to Lucas in the corner, whom the Rams had already committed to double-team. His desperation three fell well short, and the Rams secured the victory.
Colorado State will face #6 New Mexico in the last semifinal game Friday night at 9 p.m.
Notes:
- Nevada shot 55.6% in the second half.
- The Pack was outrebounded 33-31 and came up short in points in the paint 36-28, bench points 35-21, and second chance points 19-11.
- CSU converted Nevada’s 11 first-half turnovers into 14 points.
- Blackshear, Davidson and Coleman combined for 10-of-14 shooting in the second half and 26 points.
- A New Mexico victory in Friday’s semifinals over Colorado State would add a quad-one win to Nevada’s resume, helping their chances for a higher seed and remaining in the West region after their early tournament exit.
#5 New Mexico vs #3 Boise State
Jaelen House scored 29 points and Donavan Dent added 22 on a sensational 8-of-9 from the floor and menaced the Broncos with five steals as New Mexico sent the #3 seed Boise State home early with a 76-66 victory in MW quarterfinal action.
The Lobos arrived in Las Vegas needing to make it to the semifinals of the tournament to punch their ticket to March Madness for the first time since 2014.
To do that they’d need to beat the only two teams to hand them losses at the Pit in Albuquerque this season. Spurred on by easily the largest and loudest fan base at the tournament this week, and playing their up-tempo game from the opening tip, the Lobos ran right past both in convincing fashion and into the NCAA tournament.
House reflected on the win. “I think lately I haven’t been in the best head space confidence-wise, and tonight I just went out and laid it on the line and played how I play usually,” he said. “I’ve never been to the tournament before, so we just clinched our first tournament berth in a while, so I’m excited right now.”
The Broncos’ reputation as a physical team got turned on its ear as the Lobos matched them in rebounding with a +4 on the defensive glass, doubled them in the paint with 40 points to Boise’s 20 and ran past them with 20 points on the fast break.
“Boise is an extremely tough team,” said head coach Richard Pitino following the win. “I think we’ve been really good at times this year, but I don’t know how physically tough we have been.
“Tonight we were physically tough. We had scouting and a game plan and all those things, but before the game I just said, you’ve got hit bodies. You’ve got to out-tough them because they’re big, they’re strong, and we did that.”
The win sets up a MW semifinal tilt with #7 Colorado State at 9 p.m. Friday that could affect NCAA seeding for all three teams, including Nevada.
