What: Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals
When: 2:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas
On the air: CBS Sports Network; 760 AM
Records: SDSU is 21-8 (14-6), Boise State is 22-9 (14-6)
Series history: SDSU leads 20-13 and swept the season series, 76-68 in Boise on Jan. 4 and 74-47 at Viejas Arena on Feb. 15. Before that, the Broncos had won six of the previous seven. The Aztecs hold a 4-1 edge in the conference tournament.
Aztecs update: They have won 17 straight Mountain West quarterfinals. The last loss was 2007 against Colorado State, but there have been several close calls since – 74-71 in overtime against UNLV last year, 64-61 against Colorado State in 2023, 69-66 against Wyoming in 2021, an overtime game against UNLV in 2017. In fact, 10 of the 17 wins have been decided by six points or fewer or in OT. It’s hard to know exactly where SDSU stands should it lose and require an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has them among the last four in, meaning they wouldn’t have to go to Dayton, Ohio, for a First Four play-in game. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has them going to Dayton to face Baylor. The Bracket Matrix, which compiles dozens of projected fields, currently has them in 87 of 88 brackets with an average seed of 10.79. SDSU got production from different places in the first two games. Miles Byrd had 22 points and Taj DeGourville had 13 in the first, Nick Boyd had 24 in the second. The Aztecs had zero blocks in the first and 10 in the second. Magoon Gwath was relatively quiet in the first and had a crazy line in the second: eight points, six rebounds, seven turnovers and six blocks. This is the sixth time the Aztecs have been the 4 seed in the Mountain West Tournament. They are 9-4 as a 4, winning it in 2010.
Broncos update: They were the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West and finished tied for fourth, going 2-6 against the teams even or ahead of them. They appeared off the bubble in mid-February, then made a late charge that included home wins against first-place New Mexico and third-place Utah State. They currently appear in only six of 88 Bracket Matrix projected fields, but a Quad 1 win against SDSU on Thursday could propel them into the tournament. It’s a bad matchup for the Broncos because the Aztecs can (and do) switch the 1-5 ball screen against point guard Alvaro Cardenas (12.0 points, 6.9 assists per game), preventing him from turning the corner and creating havoc. In eight career games against the Aztecs (six at San Jose State, two at Boise State), Cardenas is 0-8 while shooting 31.8% against SDSU (and 43.1% against everyone else). The Aztecs also routinely double-team leading scorer Tyson Degenhart (17.8 points, 6.1 rebounds) in the post, limiting his looks inside. And when he stepped out to the perimeter, he was a combined 0 of 10 on 3s. The third leg of the offense is sophomore Andrew Meadow (12.6 points), known for his long hair and goggles before cutting the former. Boise State is better in the NET than SDSU (45 to 51) but worse in Kenpom (48 to 43). Kenpom projects a 68-67 Aztecs win.
Next up: The winner advances to the semifinals Friday vs. New Mexico or San Jose State (6:30 p.m., CBSSN)
— MARK ZEIGLER
