LAS VEGAS—Some of the slots available in Las Vegas this weekend have nothing to do with casinos and everything to do with the NCAA basketball tournament.
The Mountain West Conference holds its second straight postseason tourney at the Thomas & Mack Center, the home court of the defending champion UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.
The Rebels and league champ BYU figure to have NCAA bids wrapped up, and whoever cuts down the nets on Saturday night will get an automatic bid.
New Mexico is on the bubble and a good run here could get them in. Lobos first-year coach Steve Alford has complained about having eight teams on a neutral site and one—UNLV—with the home court advantage.
The league, though, loves having the tournament in Las Vegas, especially after a three-year stint at the Pepsi Center in Denver drew sparse crowds.
The tournament starts Wednesday with Colorado State (6-24) and Wyoming (12-17) squaring off for the chance to face the top-seeded Cougars. Other quarterfinals on Thursday pit UNLV and seventh seed TCU; No. 4 San Diego State against No. 5 Air Force; and New Mexico against No. 6 seed Utah.
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New Mexico (24-7, 11-5) vs. Utah (16-13, 7-9)
This is the most intriguing matchup in the opening round, pitting league scoring and rebounding champion J.R. Giddens against Utes center Luke Nevill, a 7-footer from Australia.
The Lobos swept the season series but it wasn’t easy. They won 77-67 in overtime on Jan. 22 at The Pit and 72-71 last month in Salt Lake.
“Nevill fouled out late in regulation, so they played the overtime without him,” Alford said. “And then we got a five- or six-point lead and they had to play the last three minutes without him in Salt Lake, as well.”
Alford said there’s really not that much separating the teams.
“The difference might have been four games in league play, yet our two games were decided by a possession each time,” he said. “So, it’s a very difficult matchup for both of us.”
New Mexico is red-hot, having won eight of nine, a run fueled by Giddens, a player known for attitude problems before Alford’s arrival and who has thrived under the first-year coach.
“There has literally been zero instances all year long in practice or in game play that we’ve had to deal with J.R. in a negative way,” Alford said.
First-year Utah coach Jim Boylen agreed with Alford that the teams won’t surprise each other.
“You might tweak your system a little bit, but you’re not going to change your philosophy much. So, I think these games come down to loose balls and effort and a fresh mind and fresh body,” he said.
One thing he’d like to see change is having Nevill on the court at the end this time.
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Colorado State (6-24, 0-16) vs. Wyoming (12-17, 5-11)
The Rams have lost a school record 17 straight games, prompting first-year coach Tim Miles to exclaim: “This wasn’t our intention when we talked about making history.”
Colorado State likely will be without 7-foot centers Stuart Creason and Ronnie Aguliar, both of whom aggravated foot injuries Saturday night in a loss to the Lobos.
Wyoming also struggled under its new coach, Heath Schroyer. Two of the Cowboys’ conference wins came against the Rams, including a 77-67 victory at Fort Collins last month.
“I think Wyoming has a definite advantage, and as a coach and as a team you have to learn how to win games, and right now Colorado State is kind of stuck in that area,” said BYU coach Dave Rose, whose team awaits the winner. “But this time of year, it could go any way.”
The Cougars (25-6, 14-2) have the league’s top player in Lee Cummard and its best big man in Trent Plaisted, who led BYU to a league-record 14 conference wins.
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UNLV (23-7, 12-4) vs. TCU (14-15, 6-10)
The Rebels swept the Horned Frogs in conference play thanks to the versatile guard Wink Adams, who led the league in free throw shooting at 85.4 percent and is one of the most exciting and athletic players in the conference.
As Alford noted, TCU will basically be playing a road game at the rocking Thomas & Mack. But Horned Frogs coach Neil Dougherty is more concerned about the challenges on the court than in the stands.
“They have interchangeable parts and they cause a lot of teams matchup issues offensively, and they’re able to put up great defensive pressure,” he said.
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San Diego State (19-11, 9-7) vs. Air Force (16-13, 8-8)
The teams split a pair of low-scoring games with the Aztecs prevailing 49-38 in February at home and the Falcons winning 46-43 Saturday at the Academy.
“We won’t have to look too far back to find out about what our opponent’s going to do since we played them on Saturday,” Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said. “I had a phone call on Sunday from a smart-aleck, who said, ‘I didn’t see your final score but I saw your halftime score.’ We have had a hard time scoring against them.”
The Aztecs are the fourth seed but they’ve lost five of their last eight games. They’re probably headed to the National Invitation Tournament unless they can pull off a string of wins.
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In the women’s bracket, 12th-ranked Utah (23-7) is the top seed, following by TCU and Wyoming. Quarterfinals are Wednesday.
