Rapid Recap: 2023-24 Mountain West Tournament Semifinals

We had two Mountain West basketball semifinal showdowns Friday evening. Let’s recap what happened!

(5) San Diego State v. (1) Utah State:

A dominant final 27 minutes for San Diego State propelled its 86-70 win over the top-seeded Utah State Aggies Friday evening, clinching its seventh straight Mountain West Tournament title appearance.

SDSU’s star big man Jaedon LeDee struggled with foul trouble, picking up two early fouls in the first 3:58, igniting a 22-2 run that put USU up 17 with 7:25 left.

Once Utah State’s Great Osobor, picked up his second foul 70 feet from the basket with 6:23 left, the game completely flipped on its head. San Diego State ended the first half on a 15-5 run and outscored its counterpart 67-36 over the game’s final 27 minutes.

San Diego State relentlessly pestered Utah State with its high-octane defense, which completely away any rhythm offensively. USU also didn’t have the same attention to detail—or energy—defensively to keep pace, as SDSU shot 51.6 percent in the second half (5-13 3PT) with just two turnovers.

Utah State also left multiple points on the board, especially late. The team went without a field goal over the final 6:05 and went 11-of-17 from the free-throw line over the game’s final five minutes, having multiple opportunities to trim its deficit that only grew as time dwindled.

LeDee finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, shooting 8-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Lamont Butler tallied 16 points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep with five boards and three assists, while Micah Parrish shook off Thursday’s disappointing offensive output with 15 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-12 shooting.

The Aztecs had two other double-figure scorers: Reese Dixon-Waters (11 points, 5-11 FG) and Darrion Trammell, who dished out a team-high five assists to go with his 10 points.

After a fast start, Osobor tallied 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting and five rebounds while Ian Martinez had 16 points on 3-of-6 shooting from distance.

The Aztecs look to repeat as MW Title champs and win their third in four years Saturday at 6 p.m. EST.

(7) Colorado State v. (6) New Mexico:

New Mexico clinched a bid into the Mountain West Tournament title for the first time since the 2017-18 season Friday evening.

The Lobos completely controlled Colorado State nearly the entire game, holding one of the conference’s top offenses to 34.3 percent shooting from the floor and 21.4 percent (6-28) from beyond the arc. They deterred several shots around the rim Friday evening, only surrendering 30 points in the paint and 22 points on layups at a 36 percent clip.

Joel Scott was the Rams’ best player Friday, tallying 20 points with eight rebounds on 9-of-16 shooting. Isaiah Stevens, who dealt with a calf injury for the entire second half, was neutralized throughout Friday’s affair.

He was held without a field goal for over 26 minutes, finishing with 13 points on just 5-of-13 shooting with just two assists to five turnovers in 36 minutes.

Jaelen House led the way with 19 points, five rebounds, eight assists and two steals, shooting 5-of-12 from the floor; JT Toppin added 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting plus nine boards and three blocks; Mustapha Amzil had 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting; Nelly Junior Joseph had nine points, but hauled in 12 boards and rejected a pair of shots.

New Mexico quickly raced out to an 11-0 lead—capped by Dent’s steal-and-score—though the pace trickled down to Colorado State’s favor.

But that did not mean New Mexico let up any ground defensively. It held Stevens without a field goal for the entirety of the first half (six attempts) with three times as many turnovers (3) than assists (1)—an atypical line from one of the best pure point guards in the country.

The Lobos’ lead extended to double digits with 15:29 left and remained there for much of the second half. Amzil’s above-the-break 3-pointer made it 58-42 with 9:06 left, their biggest advantage of the evening.

Back-to-back buckets by Stevens and Scott made it a seven-point lead—61-54—with less than five minutes remaining, but the Rams did not have enough gas to push New Mexico to the brink.

The last time San Diego State and New Mexico squared off in the Mountain West Tournament title game was 2017-18, New Mexico’s last appearance. It resulted in a seven-point (Aztec win). They also faced off in 2012 and 2014—both New Mexico victories.

Who do you think will win Saturday’s championship showdown? Let us know in the comments!

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This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.