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2020 Mountain West Basketball Tournament: Day 2 Schedule, Bracket, Live Stream & Odds
Day two’s games are set and provide some exciting and familiar match ups.
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Will day one’s winners bring the same energy to their quarterfinal match ups?
For those streaming the first round of games in this year’s Mountain West Conference tournament, day one was exciting.
The first round of games saw two lower seeded teams get the win on Wednesday, including No. 11 Wyoming’s 80-74 victory over No.6 Colorado State, which was the first time a #11 seed won a Mountain West Tournament game. The first victory of the tournament went to No. 9 Air Force who defeated No. 8 Fresno State 77-70, followed by No. 7 New Mexico’s 79-66 victory of the No. 10 San Jose State, avoiding a possible third “upset” of the day.
All of this to reset the bracket for an exciting round of games on a Thursday afternoon.
Caution 🚧#MWMadness is in full effect. pic.twitter.com/ezh5fgNioV
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 5, 2020
Right off the bat we get a look at top seed San Diego State who takes on No. 9 Air Force to start the day off. Air Force received two solid performances from senior forward Lavelle Scottie (21 points) and sophomore A.J. Walker (24 points) who combined, shot 17-32 from the field including five made three-pointers on seven attempts from Walker. The Falcons will need similar performances if they hope to take eliminate the tournament’s favorites Thursday afternoon.
Next up is the host team No. 4 UNLV taking on No.5 Boise State. These two squads split the regular-season series, but the Runnin’ Rebels handed the Broncos their last loss of the season last Wednesday in ExtraMile Arena. This game may be a bit of a toss up but influential on the entire bracket as UNLV was the only team to beat the Aztecs during the regular season and the winner of this No. 4 vs. No. 5 match up goes on to face San Diego State on Friday.
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Game number three has been set up as a rematch of No. 7 New Mexico’s 66-64 upset win over Utah State this past Saturday in the Pit. The Lobos looked good in their 79-66 win of the Spartans on day one but had majority of their offense go through three individuals; Vance Jackson (26 points), Makuach Maluach (22 points) and Corey Manigault (18 points).
The trio combined for sixty-six of the team’s seventy-nine points while netting twenty-four of the team’s 29 made field goals. Paul Weir needs those guys and some others to step up if they hope to take a 2-1 season lead over the Aggies and advance in Las Vegas. Vance Jackson has always played some of his best Mountain West basketball in the conference tournament and will need to keep his level of play high to have a chance at cutting down the nets come Saturday.
Ending the night is No. 11 Wyoming taking on No. 3 Nevada in the latest game of the day. Wyoming may need the extra rest after a 80-74 upset victory over Colorado State on Wednesday night. The Cowboys received double-digit scoring from all five starters while combining for 12-26 made shots from deep. Nevada is looking at a run to the championship game and don’t plan on being featured in Wyoming’s Cinderella story this time around.
Thursday, March 5
Game 1: No. 1 San Diego State vs. No. 9 Air Force, 2:30 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network OR (FuboTV Free Trial ), KenPom: Aztecs
Game 2: No. 4 UNLV vs. No. 5 Boise State, 5:00 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports NetworkCBS Sports Network OR (FuboTV Free Trial ), KenPom: Rebels
Game 3: No. 7 New Mexico vs. No. 2 Utah State, 9 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network OR (FuboTV Free Trial ), KenPom: Aggies
Game 4: No. 3 Nevada vs. No. 11 Wyoming, 11:30 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network OR (FuboTV Free Trial ), KenPom: Wolf Pack
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