San Diego State’s women couldn’t overcome the conference’s top team while the men prepared for their opener at the Mountain West tournament this week. Here’s an update on MW basketball happenings:
- The Aztec women’s basketball team (23-10) rallied against No. 21/24 UNLV (30-2), but came up short, falling 71-68 in the tournament quarterfinals Tuesday. They were down by seven with 19 seconds left, but Sophia Ramos and Abby Prohaska landed back-to-back threes in six seconds to give UNLV, undefeated in conference play, a solid scare. Two UNLV free throws stopped SDSU though, as Ramos’ last-second three was well short of the mark.
- The league named Ramos and Asia Avinger to the All-Mountain West Team. In conference play, Avinger averaged 12.1 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Ramos led the Aztecs in scoring in conference play, averaging 12.5 points per game, 4.4 rebounds and four assists.
- Two SDSU men received Defensive Player of the Year honors. How? In a vote by the league’s coaches, Nathan Mensah, with 46 blocks, received the award for the second straight year. But media voters chose Lamont Butler, with 49 steals, for the accolade. Both are members of the conference All-Defensive Team. Matt Bradley, who averaged 13 points a game, snagged first-team All-Mountain West honors in both polls.
- The No. 20 men’s team, which begins its quest for the MW tournament title at noon Thursday, will face Colorado State. The Rams dispatched Fresno State in a 67-65 thriller Wednesday. Fresno State erased a large deficit and led by one with less than a minute to play, but with the game tied and less than five seconds left, Colorado State’s Isaiah Stevens hit a jumper for the win.