Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

MWC TOURNAMENT:

MWC LIVE BLOG: Rebels fall to Aztecs, 55-45, must wait for NCAA at-large bid

Late surge keyed by Gay, White paces San Diego State to conference tournament title

MWC Championship - UNLV v. SDSU

Sam Morris

UNLV forward Darris Santee grabs a rebound from San Diego State forward Malcolm Thomas during their Mountain West Conference championship game Saturday, March 13, 2010. San Diego State won the game 55-45.

Updated Saturday, March 13, 2010 | 6:03 p.m.

UNLV Falls Short of MWC Title

For the fifth time in the last six meetings, San Diego State knocks off UNLV, winning the Mountain West Conference Championship, 55-45.

UNLV-SDSU MWC Championship

UNLV guards Tre'Von Willis and Kendall Wallace walk off the court after their Mountain West Conference championship game Saturday, March 13, 2010, against San Diego State University. Launch slideshow »

UNLV Advances to Title Game

Brice Massamba scored a career-high 13 points, as UNLV improves to 4-0 against BYU in Mountain West Conference Tournament play, beating the Cougars, 70-66.

SDSU Knocks Off Top-Seeded UNM

Behind Green Valley grad Billy White's career high 28 points, San Diego State shocks No. 8 New Mexico, 72-69, in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Reader poll

With UNLV and San Diego State set to meet for a third time, how do you see the MWC title game shaking out?

View results

The Rebel Room

BYU POSTGAME: MWC shines as a whole on this night

Ryan Greene and Ray Brewer do their best in trying to re-live a night to remember at the Mountain West Conference tournament, which was capped by UNLV advancing to the title game with a 70-66 victory over BYU. Plus, a look ahead to the championship tilt between the Rebels and San Diego State, who UNLV has had a tougher time matching up with this season than any other league opponent.

Final, SDSU wins, 55-45

UNLV couldn't produce any offense late in a sluggish affair with San Diego State, and the Aztecs hit enough timely shots to secure an automatic bid to next week's NCAA tournament, winning Saturday's title game, 55-45.

Freshman forward Kawhi Leonard led the Aztecs with 16 points and 20 rebounds in a remarkable performance, and junior guard D.J. Gay hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers from well beyond the arc late in the second half.

Both teams struggled mightily from the floor, with SDSU going 18-of-46 and UNLV hitting just 17 of 52 attempts. The difference was yet again rebounding, as the Rebels were out-done on the boards, 36-24.

Tre'Von Willis and Oscar Bellfield each scored 11 points for the Rebels, who now must wait 24 hours to to learn their NCAA tournament fate as a potential at-large candidate.

For full postgame coverage, stay tuned to lasvegassun.com/rebels.

3:03, second half, SDSU leads 46-40

D.J. Gay has hit two huge 3-pointers from deep with the shot clock dwindling, and combined with improved defense from the Aztecs, the underdogs have pulled ahead in the closing minutes, 46-40.

Vegas native Billy White also hit two huge shots inside during the recent surge, helping SDSU overcome a four-point UNLV advantage.

Heading into the closing minutes, look for UNLV to turn to Tre'Von Willis, who has just nine points on 3-of-9 shooting so far tonight.

11:56, second half, UNLV leads 38-34

UNLV came out of the halftime locker room with a goal of applying consistent full-court pressure on San Diego State, and so far it's paid dividends on both ends of the floor.

The Aztecs are having trouble setting up any kind of offense, and point guard D.J. Gay is getting more and more tired by the minute.

Meanwhile, Chace Stanback and Kendall Wallace have recently added 3-pointers from the left corner to give UNLV a 38-34 lead with just under 12 minutes to play at the Mack.

Wallace has also come up huge on defense, grabbing a big board just before the latest TV timeout, and earlier forcing a turnover by Tyrone Shelley which led to his trey.

After being out-rebounded 24-11 in the first half, the Rebels are winning that battle in the second category, 7-4. Also, SDSU has only gotten off seven shot attempts so far since the break.

The atmosphere is also beginning to be a factor, as the partisan crowd in UNLV's favor is getting increasingly louder.

Halftime, SDSU leads 25-22

For the third time this season, UNLV has had a tough time taming San Diego State on the glass, but this time both teams are pretty sluggish on the offensive end, meaning it's still anyone's game at the break.

UNLV trails 25-22, as freshman guard Justin Hawkins answered a late SDSU run with a corner 3-pointer just before the buzzer, keeping the Aztecs from taking all of the momentum into the locker room.

The Rebels were out-rebounded by the Aztecs in the first half 24-11. Leading all performers inside was SDSU fab freshman Kawhi Leonard, who had 13 rebounds to go with his six points. Five of his boards came on the offensive end.

Both teams look pretty tired from grueling games each of the last two days, and the benches could decide this second half.

Here are some more numbers of note from the first half ...

— UNLV was just 8-of-25 from the floor and 3-of-11 from 3-point range. As for San Diego State, the Aztecs were 10-of-28 from the floor and 0-for-6 from deep. This comes one day after they started off 4-for-4 from long range against New Mexico.

— Oscar Bellfield leads the Rebels with six points, while Malcolm Thomas has a team-high seven for the Aztecs.

— Hawkins had five points in seven minutes off of the bench. He could add some spark for the Rebels in the second half, as he only played two minutes last night against BYU.

— UNLV's Brice Massamba played just four minutes, picked up two fouls and had trouble grasping a pair of entry passes from Tre'Von Willis. He'll need to come up big for UNLV in the second half.

6:53, first half, game tied 12-12

UNLV held a 10-4 lead on San Diego State following a huge second-chance bucket by Kendall Wallace and a 3-pointer from Chace Stanback, but San Diego State clawed back and is showing its first signs of life today.

Tyrone Shelley and Malcolm Thomas each converted and-one opportunities, while the Rebels have again gone cold from the floor. The game is now tied, 12-12, with 6:53 to go in the first half.

Oscar Bellfield hit a mid-range jumper just before the last TV timeout, giving him a game-high six points on 3-of-5 shooting.

The two teams combined right now are 10-of-36 from the floor, while San Diego State has taken more control on the offensive glass, with six boards on that end. UNLV is losing the rebounding battle right now, 17-9.

11:38, first half, UNLV leads 5-4

It's pretty apparent early on that the deeper bench could be crucial in today's MWC title game between UNLV and San Diego State.

UNLV has the depth, and now it's up to the Rebel reserves to step up some.

After both teams played vicious games each of the first two days of this tournament, they look gassed across the board. Shots aren't falling, and San Diego State's big men, who are typically pretty hyper and active, are quiet so far.

San Diego State is 2-of-14 from the floor, with both makes coming in close. The Rebels haven't fared much better at 2-of-9, but Oscar Bellfield put UNLV on top, 5-4, with a pair of jumpers from the wing.

UNLV is also holding its own inside on the glass. SDSU leads the rebounding battle early, 11-8.

Pregame

It's just about time for today's Mountain West Conference title game between UNLV and San Diego State, and today's game comes down to one thing folks — pride.

I mean, that — plus NCAA tourney seeding — is really all that's on the line today. Both teams are pretty solidly in the field of 65. For SDSU, it's about getting as high a seed as possible. For the Rebels, it's about avoiding the dreaded 8- or 9-seed.

It looks like we'll have a pretty good crowd on-hand today for this one, though it doesn't look like a ton of Aztec faithful made the overnight haul up I-15. Expect it to feel every bit like a home game for the Rebels.

Now onto tonight's three keys to UNLV victory, prediction and 'Pick to Click'

1) For the third day in a row, I can't emphasize this enough — The Rebels' defense needs to make a difference early. With SDSU's thin rotation in the back-court, these guys can be had early if UNLV is as intense as hit has been of late.

2) Brice Massamba playing as well as he did last night, when he scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed six rebounds, can't hurt. SDSU's front-court has killed UNLV this year. There's no sugar-coating that.

3) Chace Stanback has had a tough time scoring against Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas this year. He needs to be as effective on that end as he was last night, when he hit a trio of threes and scored 17 points.

Prediction I think SDSU's championship game was last night. Honestly, I think this means more to UNLV on its home floor than it does to the Aztecs, who like last year had to expend far too much energy to oust the top seed in the semifinals. I'll go with UNLV 68, San Diego State 60.

Pick to Click Oscar Bellfield has had pretty good success against D.J. Gay this season, especially the first time around, when he had 12 points, six assists and no turnovers in a 10-point Rebels win. I think he roughly duplicates that again today.

Talk to you after tip-off.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy