In an absolute thriller of a game on Mar. 12, the Boise State Broncos (27-7, 15-3 MWC) won their first-ever Mountain West championship game in program history, much to the despair of San Diego State Aztecs. The Aztecs (23-8, 13-4 MWC) fell just short of a second consecutive Mountain West championship.
The game was a defensive slugfest front to finish, and with each team coming off two games in the previous two days, the offense was touch and go at times. Boise State shot just 38% from the field, 28% on threes, and 57% on free throws. Similarly, the Aztecs shot just 35% from the field and 54.5% from the charity stripe.
With a little over two minutes left in the game, the Broncos had a 53-50 lead, and the Aztecs desperately needed an answer in a game that lacked offense. With 1:55 left on the clock, Matt Bradley made a dirty fadeaway jumper to pull within one point. On the game’s final possession Matt Bradley missed a layup only to snag the offensive rebound and kick it out for Trey Pulliam, who took one final attempt at his signature floater and missed it, ending the game.
Matt Bradley played his best game of the tournament, scoring 17 points and adding seven rebounds. Lamont Butler performed far above par and was nearly perfect from the floor, adding a much-needed 16 points. Nathan Mensah ruled the game on defense with several clutch blocks and ten rebounds on top of that. Aguek Arop provided six points and four rebounds off of the bench.
The Broncos did just enough to eke out the win and complete the season sweep of San Diego State, which is almost unheard of in the Mountain West. Capping off a stellar regular season, the Broncos’ sweep was no easy feat and was assisted by a 13-point, four rebound performance from the Mountain West Freshman of the Year, Tyson Degenhart. Abu Kigab contributed 11 points, and Emmanuel Akot added 10 points and six rebounds despite dealing with an ankle injury.
Despite the heart-wrenching loss, head coach Brian Dutcher’s team sits at a good position entering Selection Sunday on Mar. 13. They won 11 of their last 12 games before their championship game loss.
This team's last time losing a game by more than one point was way back on Jan. 26 in a loss to Utah State. So although the Aztecs have been through plenty of disappointing losses and a number of more losses than the other top teams in the conference, they are expected to be somewhere from 8-10 on the seeding spectrum tomorrow at 3 p.m. PT.