Before they tipped off the Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship game, San Diego State knew it had a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Wyoming did not.
The Cowpokes played like a desperate team, and it was enough to put them in to the Big Dance for the first time in 13 years.
Wyoming won a slugfest of a game 45-43 on Saturday in Las Vegas. The Cowpokes and Aztecs combined to shoot 34-percent from the floor. Only four players (two from each team) reached double digits in scoring.
"We had opportunities," said Aztecs head coach Steve Fisher. "We didn't take advantage of enough of them. Some of that was us, some of that was Wyoming."
San Diego State opened the game in a 14-2 hole because they simply could not put the ball in the basket. The Aztecs missed eight of their first nine shots (four of them layups) and only got marginally better after that.
Still, their defense somehow found a way to keep them in the game. Wyoming forward Larry Nance Jr. had a game-high 14 points, but needed 14 shots to do it.
The Aztecs were led by freshman Malik Pope's 13 points off the bench. Pope was the only Aztec shooting well on Saturday, making five of seven attempts. Seniors Aqeel Quinn (0 points) and Dwayne Polee (2 points) combined to miss all eight of their field goal attempts.
Local
San Diego State will likely earn a #7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Brackets will be revealed on Sunday afternoon. NBC 7 Sportswrap will have updates and analysis of San Diego State's draw as it unfolds.
