UCLA vs. Arizona; New Mexico vs. San Diego State: SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt says Las Vegas was the place to be for the prelude to March Madness.
Basketball
There was about a minute remaining in UNLV’s basketball game against San Diego State on Friday evening when Aztecs fans began a popular chant for teams about to win on another’s court.
Fresno State defeated Colorado State 77-68 in the final of the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament. The victory assured the Bulldogs of their seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Kendall Williams hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining and New Mexico took down top-seeded San Diego State 64-58 in the Mountain West tournament championship at the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNLV’s basketball team might over the next 24 hours be given the opportunity to continue a season that has delivered more disappointments than not, but the Rebels should deny any and all such inquiries.
A Spalding sports equipment technician armed with lasers showed up recently at the Thomas & Mack Center — and he was on a mission. He was there to make sure the basketball rim and backboard support equipment were properly aligned and connected into a special Mountain West court floor. But he was also there to change Thomas & Mack’s look and convert the venue into a neutral site.
UNLV’s Khem Birch courageously played through pain and laid it all on the line. But the Rebels went out with a whimper anyway, getting knocked out of the Mountain West tournament Friday night while resembling a dispirited and dysfunctional mess in the process.
In a game during which San Diego State was determined to take away UNLV’s big-man tandem of Khem Birch and Roscoe Smith, the Rebels’ guards had an opportunity to seize the moment and carry the team into the Mountain West tournament championship game. Didn’t happen. Never had a chance.
Not that New Mexico needed any extra motivation. But when San Diego State’s win over UNLV went final, the Lobos knew what they had to do.
They could have played all day.
The origin dates to Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1839. The line was later listed as “The third time is lucky.” UNLV doesn’t need such fortune Friday night. But it better be a whole lot smarter than it was Thursday.
They’ve cut down the nets the past two years at the Thomas &Mack Center, and the New Mexico Lobos appear poised for another climb up the ladder come Saturday.
For his participation in Thursday’s Mountain West Tournament, Khem Birch was rewarded with an ice bath and some painkillers. The 6-foot-9-inch UNLV junior forward is fine with that. Because it means he has to prepare to play another basketball game. Rest? That can wait.
A week after being suspended from team, Bryce Dejean-Jones returned to score 22 points off the bench as UNLV held off a late charge to defeat Wyoming 71-67 in a Mountain West tournament quarterfinal at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The San Diego State coaches probably were wrapping up their scouting report of Colorado State when Spencer Butterfield made it as valuable as a counterfeit $100 bill.
