Fresno State beats San Diego State in MWC, advances to NCAA tourney

The first meeting was a six-point loss in overtime at San Diego State.

The second meeting was a one-point home victory over the Aztecs.

Fresno State didn’t have to wonder if it could play with the Mountain West’s top-seeded basketball team. The Bulldogs didn’t have to worry if they could beat the regular-season champion or make plays if the game got tight as expected.

“We got to the point we could compete a couple of years ago with San Diego State,” Fresno State coach Rodney Terry said. “We’re a confident team coming in, played as well as anyone in this league. We played as well as anyone in the country down the stretch.”

And now the Bulldogs are the Mountain West tournament champions. Second-seeded Fresno State stretched its winning streak to nine games with a 68-63 victory over the Aztecs in Saturday’s title game before an announced crowd of 8,132 at the Thomas &Mack Center.

The victory earned Fresno State (25-9) its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001. It also gave the Bulldogs just their second official career conference tournament title. They won the Pacific Coast Athletic Association crown in 1984, and had their 2000 Western Athletic Conference championship vacated by the NCAA for using ineligible players.

“Greatest feeling I’ve had in my whole basketball career,” said Fresno State guard Marvelle Harris, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “It’s a big win for the program, community, fans, everyone.”

San Diego State (25-9) now must hope for an at-large bid when the NCAA selections are announced today. The Aztecs could instead end up in the National Invitation Tournament.

“You guys (media) sure don’t think we are (an NCAA team), so I don’t know,” said Winston Shepard, a Findlay Prep product who scored 15 points. “I thought we had an excellent season. We’re definitely one of the best teams in the country. I don’t think this is a team that many people would want to play.”

San Diego State was the class of a conference that typically sends multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament, but that may not be the case this season.

“I’m not going to campaign to get ourselves into the tournament,” Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said. “We had the chance to do that on the court, and we didn’t win on the court.”

That’s because Fresno State made the keys plays late.

Julien Lewis, who hadn’t made a shot, stole the ball near his basket, dribbled down the court and pulled up behind the arc to knock down a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put the Bulldogs ahead for good at 64-62. He then made four straight free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal the victory.

Fresno State won despite shooting 38.9 percent, and Harris (18 points) was the only Bulldog in double figures. Malik Pope led the Aztecs with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The teams played two tight games during the regular season, with San Diego State emerging with a 73-67 overtime victory the first time and Fresno State responding to win the rematch 58-57.

Fresno State’s players knew they not only could compete with the Aztecs but also could make the plays to beat them.

“We go into every game thinking we can win,” Harris said. “We don’t go in hoping or guessing. So we went in with confidence. We outplayed them twice, so we knew they knew us.

“And I think in the final few minutes, that’s what happened. We had Julien make a big play. We got defensive stops. As much as it’s a scouting report and you’ve got to know players, I think it came down to making plays.”

■ ALL-TOURNAMENT — In addition to Harris, the all-tournament team was made up of Karachi Edo of Fresno State, Cameron Oliver of UNR and Trey Kell, Pope and Shepard of San Diego State.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65