LAS VEGAS — UNLV and San Diego State have spent the last month making their cases to join heavyweights New Mexico and Brigham Young in the NCAA Tournament.
Both underdogs will get to give a closing argument in the championship of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. UNLV upset No. 14 BYU 70-66 on Friday night, three hours after San Diego State edged New Mexico.
Tre’Von Willis scored 18 points, Chace Stanback added 17 and Brice Massamba 13 for the third-seeded Runnin’ Rebels (25-7), who will face the fourth-seeded Aztecs (24-8) for the title tonight.
UNLV didn’t let Jimmer Fredette go off quite like he did a night earlier in a win over TCU, when the junior from Glens Falls, N.Y., set tournament records with 45 points and a 23-of-24 performance from the line. This time, he was “held” to 30 points — 12-of-12 from the stripe.
San Diego State 72, No. 8 New Mexico 69
San Diego State escaped with an upset of the top-seeded Lobos when Dairese Gary missed a runner in the final second. The Aztecs (24-8) then added two free throws to ice their return trip to the conference championship.
“We were just trying to stop him from going to the basket,” said Malcolm Thomas, one of San Diego State’s two big men who gave the Lobos fits all three times they played — two of them wins by the Aztecs.
“I actually tipped it, but he got it back and got the shot off, but we were lucky that he missed it,” Thomas said. “My nerves were just all over the place.”
The Lobos (29-4), who split their series with the Aztecs during conference play, had their 15-game winning streak snapped, but they’re counting on still getting a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the pairings are announced Sunday.
