The Fresno State men’s basketball team enters the Mountain West Conference tournament optimistic about making a splash.
“We’ve played well enough to beat anyone in the conference, and we’ve played well enough to lose to anyone in the conference. That’s the truth if you’ve been following us,” Fresno State coach Justin Hutson said after the Bulldogs defeated Wyoming, 63-55, on Saturday.
“We’re positive people and we have gotten better.”
Freshmen guards Jarred Hyder and Niven Hart led the Bulldogs (11-18, 7-11) with 11 points apiece as Fresno State completed a season sweep of Wyoming (7-23, 2-16) on senior night at the Save Mart Center.
The boxscore is at this link.
Bulldogs Open Against Air Force
Now it’s all about preparing to face Air Force (11-19, 5-13) in a noon first-round game on Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Fresno State swept Air Force during the regular season.
In the first meeting, the Falcons had a difficult time dealing with Fresno State senior guard New Williams (25 points). In the second contest, senior guard Noah Blackwell burned the Falcons for 25 points. And, Air Force had no answer for senior power forward Nate Grimes on the boards as he totaled 23 rebounds in the two games.
San Diego State Is Top Seed
Fifth-ranked San Diego State, which has brought national attention to the Mountain West this season, is the tournament’s top seed.
The Aztecs (28-1, 17-1) survived a scare Saturday at Nevada, overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit for an 83-76 win over the Wolf Pack (19-11, 12-6).
Tournament Schedule
First Round — Wednesday (all times PT)
Game 1: No. 8 Fresno State vs. No. 9 Air Force, noon
Game 2: No. 7 New Mexico vs. No. 10 San Jose State, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 6 Colorado State vs. No. 11 Wyoming, 5 p.m.
Quarterfinals — Thursday
Game 4: No. 1 San Diego State vs. Game 1 winner, 11:30 a.m.
Game 5: No. 4 UNLV vs. No. 5 Boise State, 2 p.m.
Game 6: No. 2 Utah State vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m.
Game 7: No. 3 Nevada vs. Game 3 winner, 8:30 p.m.
Semifinals — Friday
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6 p.m.
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 8:30 p.m.
Championship — Saturday
Semifinal winners, 2:30 p.m.
