One Cinderella team is left standing among the final four in the Mountain West Conference men's tournament, hoping to steal a bid as March Madness heats up.
Two days of the 2023 Mountain West tournament have provided thrilling action, highlighted by exciting and heartbreaking finishes, in both regulation and overtime.
When the dust settled and carnage sorted past 11 p.m. on the west coast Thursday night, three of the top four seeds in the tournament were left standing.
The sole outlier? An upstart San Jose State Spartans (20-12) team that only a season ago slogged their way through a 1-17 conference slate.
Led by Mountain West player of the year Omari Moore, the Spartans picked up their first-ever Mountain West tournament win in program history. Fifth-seed San Jose State outlasted the fourth-seed Nevada Wolf Pack in overtime to advance to the semifinals. In turn, possibly ending Nevada's, who has lost three in a row, chances at a NCAA tournament bid.
Moore and the Spartans look to continue their run against San Diego State in the first of two semifinal match-ups Friday evening in Las Vegas.
#1 San Diego State Aztecs vs #5 San Jose State Spartans
Moore delivered on multiple levels in the Spartans 81-77 overtime victory against Nevada. After struggling in the teams two meetings during the regular season, Moore had an MVP performance with 26 points, 10 assists, and four rebounds as San Jose State had almost as many points in this game as they did combined in two previous losses (91) to Nevada.
Sage Tolbert III did his part, too, with 20 points on 8-13 shooting from the field, including a couple of rim-rattling dunks. Robert Vaihola added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Spartans, normally a team that holds a huge rebounding advantage, lost the rebound battle in this game by eight. But they only had six turnovers and shot 49.2 percent from the field as they were the more consistent team from start-to-finish on Thursday.
San Jose State will have their hands full against 20th-ranked San Diego State (25-6). The Aztecs were in a fight of their own in the quarterfinals, fending off the 8th-seed Colorado State in a 64-61 victory.
An uncharacteristic effort of turning the ball over (13 total) by the Aztecs allowed Colorado State to lead most of the first-half. It was enough to keep the game close and almost had the Rams pulling off the upset. Despite struggles on offense (38.2 percent from the field, 5-19 from three-point range), a standard defensive effort (nine blocked shots, +10 on the boards) propelled the Aztecs into the semis.
Lamont Butler was 5-14 on field goal attempts and led the San Diego State with 16 points. Matt Bradley added 13.
In the lone meeting this season, the Aztecs defeated the Spartans 72-51. Moore was held to 11 points on 3-10 shooting as San Jose State shot only 34.7 percent and had 13 turnovers.
Keshad Johnson had 16 points and 8 rebounds for San Diego State, with Bradley adding 14. The Aztecs committed only three turnovers and held a slight advantage on the boards.
This game will come down to how much Moore and the Spartans can get going on offense (which, honestly is true for most opponents of San Diego State). If the supporting cast around Moore plays like they did against Nevada, this one should be close.
Game time: 9:30 p.m. (ET) on CBSSN
Prediction: San Diego State 68 San Jose State 63
#2 Boise State Broncos vs #3 Utah State Aggies
The Boise State Broncos (24-8) were rolling in their quarterfinal game with the UNLV Rebels on Thursday night. A first-half in which the Broncos shot 70.4 percent from the field to lead to a 50-34 halftime lead.
It looked like Boise State might get a chance to rest their starters. Instead, UNLV kept battling and the Broncos went cold and stagnant. The Rebels forced overtime but the first-half Broncos showed up, outscoring UNLV 14-3 in overtime to pick up a 87-76 victory.
Boise State ended with a 51.7 percent clip from the field, connecting on 13-28 three-point attempts. The Broncos held a slight advantage on the board (+4) and committed 11 turnovers.
Naje Smith had 18 points and six rebounds, hitting a couple of big threes in the second-half and going 6-7 from the free throw line. Marcus Shaver Jr. had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, with a bounce in his step not seen since re-aggravating an ankle injury suffered in February.
Shaver in his best form will be needed against the Utah State Aggies (25-7), who are coming off a 91-76 quarterfinal victory over the New Mexico Lobos.
It was the Taylor Funk showed from the get-go for the Aggies. Funk scored the team's first 16 points on route to a game -high 32. He did so on shooting 10-16 from the field, including six 3's. Steven Ashworth had himself another fantastic all-around game, scoring 22 points while adding 4 rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
The Aggies shot 48.4 percent from the field (12-24 from deep) and had 14 turnovers in victory.
This will be a rubber-match between these two programs. Boise State was phenomenal and Utah State cold in the Broncos 82-59 victory in January. The Aggies returned the favor last Saturday in a 86-73 victory.
The teams are mostly even, though Boise State has had some success in keeping Utah State from getting too hot from deep. In the two meetings, the Aggies are 14-42 from three-point range while Boise State is 18-40. Funk is the exception, scoring 38 points and delivering on 8-11 from deep.
Tyson Degenhart has 33 points and 16 rebounds against Utah State this season.
The Aggies have the slightly deeper roster, as far as contributions from the bench and sixth-man Dan Akin. This game may come down to how much the Broncos get from their bench and which team takes better care of the ball.
Game time: 11:59 p.m. (ET) on CBSSN
Prediction: Boise State 77 Utah State 73
Barring some surprises, the top three seeds have most likely locked up spots in this year's Big Dance. Can San Jose State make it a fourth by winning this tournament? Find out beginning with the semis Friday evening on the CBS Sports Network, followed by a Saturday title game on CBS.
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