Steve Alford won’t be climbing any ladder or cutting anything down at the MGM Grand Garden on Saturday after his UCLA team was eliminated by top-seeded Arizona 70-64 in the Pacific 12 Conference tournament semifinals Friday night.
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An issue that has tormented the Rebels for most of the Mountain West season did them in again Thursday, when UNLV emerged from its locker room at intermission and promptly gave up a six-point lead, watching helplessly as San Diego State opened the second half on a 12-0 run.
Las Vegas is the place to be this week and next week if you bet college basketball. It’s not all about next week, either. Many of the fans at the Thomas & Mack Center, MGM Grand Garden and Orleans Arena showed up with betting tickets.
UNLV and San Diego State, who will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Mountain West basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, have played twice this season, with the Aztecs winning by six and two points. The Rebels had chances to win both games.
The Pac-12 struck gold when its basketball tournament from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The atmosphere at the MGM Grand Garden Arena is electric and the Pac-12 hoopfest is the hottest ticket in town.
Mountain West basketball this season has neither been good enough from top to bottom or in possession of a dominating team to suggest anything is inconceivable as the conference tournament opens today at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Mountain West coaches cut the media out of voting for the all-conference team this year — and neglected to tell the writers. Don’t expect to learn who the coaches nominated or voted for.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few has been fishing for a Final Four appearance for 15 years. He has been waiting patiently. And now, in his 16th try, his most realistic shot to hook one has arrived.
In defeat, UNLV just might have defined its season-long mantra better than any of its previous 29 games. All In, All Together. And a few players short.
That was then: A group of college basketball players that helped embed into the game a hip-hop culture with how they dressed and what they said and the music blaring from their headphones. They influenced a nation of fans, a team viewed as rebellious by some and yet merchandising giants for corporate America.