Tag: UNLV basketball

Mountain West Tournament: Day 2 Results and Highlights

Wyoming’s dream run continues, as the Cowboys pulled off another upset in the MW Tournament. Earlier in the day, the hosts were ousted.

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Mountain West Tournament: Day 2 Results and Highlights

Cowboys’ dream run continues; Broncos send hosts home

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

Wyoming’s late night upset highlights an exciting Day 2

It was nearly midnight in Laramie by the time the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Tournament drew to a close. But Wyoming fans had plenty of reasons to stay up past their bedtime. Here’s a quick recap of how eight became four, as we roll into the semis.

(#1) San Diego State 73, (#9) Air Force 60

Full Recap: Aztecs eliminate Falcons

The Aztecs got off to a slow start against Air Force, as has become their custom of late. But just as customary was the second-half surge that saw SDSU through to the semifinals. Jordan Schakel led the Aztecs with 17 points, while the Falcons’ AJ Walker poured in a game-high 18.

(#5) Boise State 67, (#4) UNLV 61

Full Recap: Broncos headed to semifinals

On paper, this was always supposed to be a close matchup. This game didn’t disappoint in that respect, although the home crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center won’t be happy to see their team ousted so early – especially after a five-game winning streak to get here. Boise State’s RJ Williams exploded for 23 points and 15 rebounds as the Broncos move on to face San Diego State tomorrow.

(#2) Utah State 75, (#7) New Mexico 70

The Lobos might have scored a win at The Pit on Senior Day, but they weren’t able to repeat the task against Utah State on Thursday. Sam Merrill’s 29 points were simply too much for New Mexico, despite the game remaining close throughout. Perhaps it was an act of grace, as the Lobos’ tumultuous likely draws to close. New Mexico’s record is likely good enough to earn an invite to the CBI or CIT, but it is unclear whether the team would accept one.

(#11) Wyoming 74, (#3) Nevada 71

Allen Edwards’ team had to wait a long time to start their game, but they decisively answered any questions about whether they could carry the momentum of their upset over Colorado State into Thursday’s game against Nevada. Perhaps owing to the late tip, the Wolf Pack were outlasted by a Wyoming team that became the first-ever double-digit seed to reach the Mountain West semifinals. They will face Utah State on Friday for a trip to the championship game.

Check back tomorrow for updates from Day 3 of the Mountain West Tournament. In the meantime, head over to our MW Tournament Hub to keep up on all the hoops coverage here at Mountain West Wire.

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Boise State Heading To Semifinals After 67-61 Win Over UNLV

Game Recap: Boise State 67, UNLV 61 Bronco’s big three show up in first game in Las Vegas to help secure win. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire A big night from RJ Williams lifts Boise State past UNLV. Las Vegas, NV-The tournament’s host UNLV …

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Game Recap: Boise State 67, UNLV 61

Bronco’s big three show up in first game in Las Vegas to help secure win.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

A big night from RJ Williams lifts Boise State past UNLV.

Las Vegas, NV–The tournament’s host UNLV took on Boise State in a mid-afternoon bout in day two of the Mountain West Conference tournament. This was game number one for both teams and the fresh legs were apparent in a game that was neck and neck most of the way.

This was the third meeting between the two teams this season and while their regular season series was split with each team securing a win on the road on the other team’s home court, this is March and anything could happen.

Both teams had a hard time shooting from the field with Boise State finishing with 21-57 made field goals on the night (36.9%) and UNLV in worse shape with 18-57 field goals made (31.6%). The three point field goal numbers are even worse as UNLV finished with 9/27 made threes (33%) while Boise State knocked down just 3-15 of their attempts.

Ultimately the Broncos had the hottest hand of the night in senior forward RJ Williams who finished the game with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists on 7-12 made field goals but 9-13 of his free throw attempts. He received help from fellow senior Justinian Jessup (19 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal) and junior guard Derrick Alston Jr. (14 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists).

The Runnin’ Rebels were without junior forward Cheikh Mbacke Diong who only saw nine minutes of play off of the bench. His presence was missed on the defense end as UNLV didn’t seem to have an answer to RJ Williams down low. Sophomore guard Bryce Hamilton led UNLV with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist while junior Amauri Hardy chipped in 14 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds.

Senior guard Elijah Mitrou-Long was also missing in action after suffering a deep knee bruise over the weekend. It was obvious this UNLV team wasn’t at 100% without two of their impact players on the bench, but still gave Boise State a run for the chance to advance on to Friday night.

Up Next:

Boise State: The Broncos advance to face San Diego State in tomorrow’s semifinal action at 9:00 PM EST on CBS Sports Network. The Aztecs narrowly escaped the upset Thursday afternoon with a 73-60 win over Air Force.

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2020 Mountain West Tournament: No. 5 Boise State vs. No. 4 UNLV, Preview, Odds, Livestream

Both UNLV and Boise State take to the court in their first Mountain West tournament game.

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2020 Mountain West Tournament: No. 5 Boise State vs. No. 4 UNLV, Preview, Odds, Livestream

Rebels and Broncos begin tournament play.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

Winner likely gets SDSU

Fourth-seed UNLV (17-14,12-6 MW) takes on Fifth-seed Boise State (19-11, 11-7 MW) in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament.

This will be the third meeting for these two teams as they split the season series. Back in January Boise State won the first game 73-66. 

When the two teams met last week inside the Thomas & Mack Arena UNLV won the game 76-66.

In this matchup, Elijah Mitrou-Long will be a game-time decision for the Rebels. He has been the catalyst for UNLV’s five-game win streak. The four-guard lineup had success against Boise in their last meeting.

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Look for Bryce Hamilton to be the Rebels go-to guy in this game. He has averaged 20 points in the two games against Boise. 

Where: Thomas & Mack; Las Vegas, Nevada
When: 6 p.m. ET
TV: CBS Sports Network
Streaming: FuboTV – Get a seven-day free trial
Radio: UNLV | Boise State | Mountain West Feed
KenPom Odds: UNLV -2

Amauri Hardy and Hamilton each put up over 20 points against Boise State in their last outing if UNLV can replicate those performances they will advance to the semifinals.

For Boise State their last game was against UNLV. The Broncos have had a week to prepare for this game. For Leon Rice’s team forcing UNLV to shoot threes may be the key to the success for them on the defensive end. The combined made 3’s for UNLV in both games against Boise is only 12. 

Derrick Alston and Justinian Jessup will lead the Broncos on the court. The two sharp-shooting wings will be the key to defeating UNLV.

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Can UNLV Win The Mountain West Title?

Can UNLV Win The Mountain West Title? Being on its home court helps. Contact/Follow @MWCwire The Rebels have also beaten SDSU It is the most overused cliche in early March, but for UNLV it rings true win and you’re in. It will not be an easy task …

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Can UNLV Win The Mountain West Title?

Being on its home court helps.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

The Rebels have also beaten SDSU

It is the most overused cliche in early March, but for UNLV it rings true win and you’re in.

It will not be an easy task for the Runnin’ Rebels to win the conference tournament, nevertheless, T.J. Otzelberger’s team has a shot to win the Mountain West.

UNLV (17-14) is on a five-game winning streak coming into the Mountain West tournament. The last time UNLV won the whole thing was 2008. The last time the Rebels made the finals of the conference tournament was 2011. 

The Rebels have a first-round matchup against Boise State on Thursday for each team’s first game of the tournament. We saw this game played just last week in which the Rebels defeated the Broncos (76-66) that win created the four versus five seed game.

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Going into the game Elijah Mitrou-Long who may be UNLV’s most important player will be a game-time decision. Mitrou-Long suffered a knee injury in the team’s last game against San Jose State. But if Mitrou-Long can compete in the tournament the rest of the field is in trouble.

During the Rebels five-game winning streak Mitrou Long has averaged 17 points per game. In that five-game stretch, Mitrou-Long has been +73 while on the court. The four-guard lineup (Coleman, Hardy, Hamilton, Mitrou-Long) that coach T.J. Otzelberger has implemented clearly works best with Mitrou-Long on the floor.

Elijah Mitrou-Long may have been the Rebel’s most important player during this leading up to the tournament, but the team’s best player has been Bryce Hamilton.

Bryce Hamilton was named 1st team Mountain West. Hamilton has been one of the best players in the conference averaging 20.9 points per game. If Hamilton can get hot and be the Rebels best player UNLV can get past Boise State.

UNLV is not looking past Boise State. But a win over the Broncos would most likely lead to a third game against San Diego State. UNLV is the only team in the conference who can say “we have won a game against San Diego State”. 

So if the question is can UNLV win the Mountain West tournament and go to the big dance? The answer is yes. The path for the Rebels is realistic since they’re the only team that has beaten SDSU. The possible semifinals game against the Aztecs will be the toughest game of the tournaments. But if they can get to the finals momentum will be on the Rebels side and anything is possible.

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MWWire’s 2020 Mountain West Basketball All-Conference Awards

MWWire’s 2020 Mountain West Basketball All-Conference Awards Aztecs run away with the awards. Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire Time to hand out some hardware. The Mountain West media handed out its awards but we have our own and two sets …

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MWWire’s 2020 Mountain West Basketball All-Conference Awards

Aztecs run away with the awards.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Time to hand out some hardware.

The Mountain West media handed out its awards but we have our own and two sets really. We did a weekly horse race by ranking the best players of the week first to fifth with the best player getting five points down to one point for the fifth player of the week. Those can be found here.

Coach of the Year

Brian Dutcher, San Diego State

Player of the Year

Malachi Flynn, San Diego State

Newcomer of the Year

Malachi Flynn, San Diego State and Jalen Harris, Nevada

This was sort of a surprise and goes along the lines of giving each Harris and Flynn and an award to recognize the two best players in the conference. Unless you are San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher who said, “Everybody gets a ribbon?” That is a bit harsh. It can come down to that Flynn was Player of the Year due to the Aztecs having an amazing year and then newcomer to Harris’ whose Nevada team while good not as good.

Defensive player of the Year

Cheikh Mbacke Diong, UNLV

First-Team All-Conference

Malachi Flynn, San Diego State
Jalen Harris, Nevada
Derrick Alston Jr, Boise State
Sam Merrill, Utah State
Nico Carvacho, Colorado State

Second-Team All-Conference

Bryce Hamilton, UNLV
Justin Bean, Utah State
Neemias Queta, Utah State
Matt Mitchell, San Diego State
Yanni Wetzel, Wyoming (Tied for 5th)
Seneca Knight, San Jose State (Tied for 5th)

Those first and second teams are not all that different with the one big exception is New Mexico’s JaQuan Lyle making the all-conference team that was awarded on a weekly basis missed the cut. Then there is players like Matt Mitchell who earned only a single vote in the weekly poll but he was second-team for the season-long awards.

The weekly awards benefited those who had great weeks where Mitchell was consistent but not overwhelming which is why for the weekly votes he got so few.

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Coaches Awards

First Team
Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State
Jalen Harris, Jr., G, Nevada
Sam Merrill, Sr., G, Utah State
Matt Mitchell, Jr., F, San Diego State
Bryce Hamilton, So., F, UNLV

Second Team
Yanni Wetzell, Sr., F, San Diego State
Neemias Queta, So., C, Utah State
Nico Carvacho, Sr., C, Colorado State
Justinian Jessup, Sr., G, Boise State
Derrick Alston, Jr., F, Boise State
Jazz Johnson, Sr., G, Nevada

Third Team
Justin Bean, So., F, Utah State
Lavell Scottie, Sr., F, Air Force
Seneca Knight, So., G, San José State
Isaiah Stevens, Fr., G, Colorado State
Amauri Hardy, Jr., G, UNLV

Defensive Team
Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State
KJ Feagin, Sr., G, San Diego State
Neemias Queta, So., C, Utah State
Lindsey Drew, Sr., G, Nevada
Justin Bean, So., F, Utah State

Honorable Mention
KJ Feagin, Sr., G, San Diego State
Hunter Maldonado, So., G, Wyoming
Lindsey Drew, Sr., G, Nevada
Nate Grimes, Sr., F, Fresno State
Orlando Robinson, Fr., F, Fresno State

Player of the Year:  Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State
Defensive Player of the Year: Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State
Freshman of the Year: Isaiah Stevens, Fr., G, Colorado State
Newcomer of the Year: Jalen Harris, Nevada
Sixth Man of the Year: Nisré Zouzoua, Nevada
Coach of the Year: Brian Dutcher, San Diego State

Media Awards

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PODCAST: Predicting Who Will Win The Mountain West Tournament?

Breaking down the matchups in the Mountain West tournament that starts today.

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PODCAST: Predicting Who Will Win The Mountain West Tournament

Aztecs tournament to lose? Yup.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

Can anyone play spoiler?

Jeremy and Andrew are back to preview the 2020 Mountain West tournament which begins this week. The two go through the scenarios in the tournament and they both find a soft spot for Colorado State who could sort of play a spoiler in this event. They also go over the various all-conference awards and wonder what is the deal with San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher who is complaining a lot for a likely No. 1 seed.

Also, all signs point to a two-bid Mountain West tournament, well as long as Utah State doesn’t mess things up.

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You can find the Mountain West Wire podcast below or subscribe to the show via Anchor, Stitcher Radio, TuneIn, iTunes, and more. Listen in, subscribe and rate it and let us know what you think!

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Or just help us out directly through our Patreon page through this link.

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch list Results: POY and All-Conference Selections

Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch list Results: POY and All-Conference Selections The results are in, take a look at the awards and the 17th week’s results. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire The month of February made it a close …

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch list Results: POY and All-Conference Selections

The results are in, take a look at the awards and the 17th week’s results. 

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

The month of February made it a close one but the Player of the Year watch list results are in, and the winner is….

The staff at the Mountain West Wire wanted to do something a little different this year. We kept track of the top performers from teams around the Mountain West throughout the year and voted on who had the best performances that week.

The process churned out 17 weeks of results, highlighting multiple player’s performances in that time. Overall 31 different players received top-5 votes and every Mountain West team is represented on the list. But without further ado here we go.

[Editor note: As a staff there will be a one-time vote on these same awards, plus more, and it will be interesting to see if they are different because a one or two week surge would help them in these weekly rankings.]

Player of the year: Malachi Flynn, San Diego State (42 total points)

NCAA Basketball: San Diego State at Fresno State

Malachi Flynn has been a major catalyst in the Aztec’s historic 2019-2020 season. His presence on the court this season for a Brian Dutcher team that reached twenty wins last season but lost it’s top-two scorers is more than impressive. Flynn’s leadership has led to a 28-1 (17-1 in MW) regular season finish, top-5 ranking, an at-large bid and maybe most importantly he’s helped make the players around him better.

His numbers weren’t eye popping, but were efficient and made an impact consistently on the best team in the Mountain West. He averaged 17.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.1 APG & 1.8 SPG in 29 games this season (all starts). Certainly an all-conference worthy stat sheet and his assists and steals per game totals were good enough to lead the entire conference in both categories. Flynn performed at a high level consistently throughout the season and had the best start of any in the conference and kept his level of play just high enough to fend off some other player’s late season surges for the award.

The dagger might have come this weekend in what looked like the battle for Player of the Year against Nevada and Wolf Pack guard Jalen Harris. Flynn helped his team obtain an 83-76 win while scoring 36 points on 13-20 made field goals (65%) while also grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out five assists. This performance cemented Flynn as the inaugural 2020 Mountain West Wire’s Watch list Player of the Year. Congrats to Malachi and a special thank you to all who participated in the voting process throughout the year.

The rest of the All-Mountain West First team:

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Jalen Harris, Nevada (35 Points)

Sam Merrill, Utah State (20 Points)

Derrick Alston Jr, Boise State(19 Points)

JaQuan Lyle, New Mexico (15 Points)

All-Mountain West second team:

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Nico Carvacho, Colorado State (12 Points)

Bryce Hamilton, UNLV (12 Points)

Seneca Knight, San Jose State (10 Points)

Jazz Johnson, Nevada (9 Points)

Justinian Jessup, Boise State (7 Points)

The order for the Final week is as follows:

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

2020 Mountain West Tournament Odds: San Diego State Are Huge Favorites

TeamRankings.com give San Diego State a coin-flip chance to win the Mountain West tournament.

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2020 Mountain West Tournament Odds: San Diego State Are Huge Favorites

This is the Aztecs tournament to lose.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Can anyone challenge SDSU?

The 2020 Mountain West basketball tournament begins on Wednesday with the opening round games. The real focus will be later in the tournament as San Diego State is a huge favorite and looking to lock down a No. 1 seed if they can win the tournament.

The Aztecs have just one loss this year and are in a good position to claim stake to one of the four best teams. The odds that TeamRankings.com place on the tournament which goes round by round are basically chalk with San Diego State given the best odds to win it all at nearly 50 percent. Utah State is the only other team to be given double-digits to claim the Mountain West tournament title.

UNLV has some home-court advantage with these games being played on their home court at the Thomas and Mack. Yet, even with that, their fourth seed is also the odds they are getting to win the whole thing and just a hair behind rival Nevada from these oddsmakers.

If there are any upsets look for them to be in teh bottom half of the bracket.

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2020 Mountain West Basketball Tournament Hub

Don’t miss a thing of our Mountain West basketball tournament coverage.

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2020 Mountain West Tournament Hub

All the tournament information is here.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Stay up to date with the MW Tournament

The 2020 Mountain West basketball tournament is taking place from March 4-7 at the Thomas and Mack in Las Vegas. We will have you covered with everything from the tournament all in one place.

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2020 Mountain West Basketball Tournament Bracket, TV Schedule

The Mountain West basketball tournament bracket and schedule is out.

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2020 Mountain West Basketball Tournament Bracket, TV Schecdule

Mountain West’s tournament is set.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

March Madness is here

The 2020 Mountain West basketball tournament is set now that the regular season is over and the bracket is ready to go with the Mountain West tournament starting on Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack in Las Vegas.

March 4

Game 1: No. 8 Fresno State vs. No. 9 Air Force, 3 p.m. ET, TV: Mountain West Network
Game 2: No. 7 New Mexico vs. No. 10 San Jose State, 5 p.m. ET, TV: Mountain West Network
Game 3: No. 6 Colorado State vs. No. 11 Wyoming, 8 p.m. ET, TV: Mountain West Network

March 5

Quarterfinal 1: No. 1 San Diego State vs. Game 1 winner, 2:30 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network
Quarterfinal 2: No. 4 UNLV vs. No. 5 Boise State, 5 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network
Quarterfinal 3: No. 2 Utah State vs. Game 2 winner, 9 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network
Quarterfinal 4: No. 3 Nevada vs. Game 3 winner, 11:30 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network

March 6

Semifinal 1: QF1 winner vs. QF2 winner, 9 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network
Semifinal 2: QF3 winner vs. QF4 winner, 11:30 p.m. ET, TV: CBS Sports Network

March 7

Championship: SF1 winner vs. SF2 winner, 5:30 p.m. ET, TV: CBS

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