The top-seeded Wildcats hold off UCLA 70-64 in the semifinals of the Pacific 12 Conference tournament at the MGM Grand Garden. Arizona will meet Oregon, a 67-64 winner over Utah, in the championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Basketball
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.
Tshilidzi Nephawe could have given the politically correct answer when he was asked Friday about being left off the All-Western Athletic Conference first team. Instead, New Mexico State’s senior center opted for honesty.
Former UNLV guard Bryce Dejean-Jones left the program last year after he was threatened with gun violence by a teammate, according to a story in the Ames (Iowa) Tribune. Dejean-Jones, a senior who is finishing his career at Iowa State, reflected on a collegiate run that began at Southern California and included a three-year stint at UNLV.
Boise State defeats New Mexico 66-60 to win the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, giving the Broncos the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
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.
Aqeel Quinn scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half as No. 2 seed San Diego State rallied to defeat seventh-seeded UNLV 67-64 in a Mountain West tournament quarterfinal at the Thomas & Mack Center.
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.
Stew Morrill’s 29-year coaching career, the past 17 at Utah, ends after a 67-65 loss to Wyoming in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center. “I’m looking forward to new things and new challenges, mostly relaxing for a while,” he said.
Isaac Hamilton scored a career-high 36 points in UCLA’s 96-70 win over USC in the quarterfinals of the Pacific-12 Conference tournament at the MGM Grand Garden.
Cal State-Bakersfield defeats Utah Valley 55-40 in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament at Orleans Arena, ending the career of veteran Wolverines coach Dick Hunsaker after 13 years at the school.
The Rebels are 6-point underdogs when they face San Diego State in a Mountain West Tournament quarterfinal game at the Thomas & Mack tonight.
Free-spending roundball fans following their favorite colleges in the West Coast, Mountain West, Western Athletic and Pac-12 conferences are expected to spend millions of dollars this week, offering a hefty midweek boost for hotels and restaurants.
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.
Colorado senior guard Askia Booker shook off a cold-shooting first half with a hot run midway through the second half of the Buffaloes’ opening-round game of the Pacific-12 Conference tournament Wednesday, and 10th-seeded Colorado stopped No. 7 Oregon State 78-71 in front of 9,875 at the MGM Grand Garden.
