Mountain West Conference Tournament Quarterfinals: A day after picking up its first conference win of the season in an opening round game against No. 8 Wyoming, No. 9 Colorado State lost its last conference game of the year in an 89-62 blowout against No. 1 BYU. The Cougars used a 15-9 run to end the first half with a six-point lead after the Rams kept it closer early. Then BYU blew open the game in the second half. Junior guard Lee Cummard led BYU with 18 points.
The Cougars will play No. 4 San Diego State in the semifinals after the Aztecs beat No. 5 Air Force 53-49. The Aztecs survived a rough second half in which they scored only nine points in the first 16 minutes of the second half. Air Force kept the game close down the stretch, but junior forward Lorrenzo Wade helped keep the Falcons at bay by making four free throws in the closing seconds. Junior forward Ryan Amoroso led San Diego State with 15 points.
No. 2 UNLV won an 89-88 thriller in Las Vegas against No. 7 TCU. The Runnin’ Rebels got a three-point play from junior guard Wink Adams with 3.4 seconds remaining to steal victory from the torrid-shooting Horned Frogs. TCU made a Mountain West Conference Tournament-record 17 three-pointers as the Horned Frogs shot 73.9 percent from beyond the arc. Adams led UNLV with 29 points, including three three-pointers.
UNLV will play No. 6 Utah in the semifinals. The Utes dispatched No. 3 New Mexico 82-80 in overtime as junior Luke Nevill dunked the eventual game-winning basket with 20 seconds remaining. The 7-1 center then rejected New Mexico’s attempt at a game-winner at the other end. Nevill led the Utes with 26 points and eight rebounds. [3/13/08]
