It's New Mexico State and Boise State in the finals

New Mexico State dominated the boards against Nevada -- simply owning the Wolf Pack -- that being the primary difference in the Aggie victory. On the flip side of the semifinals, the Boise State Broncos keep proving us wrong.

Aggies blast past Pack, headed to finals
Jason Groves
Las Cruces Sun-News
3/15/2008

LAS CRUCES - They say it's hard to beat a team three times in a season.

That theory was proven true in each of Friday's Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.

After watching Boise State break through against Utah State in the early game, No. 3 New Mexico State defeated No. 2 Nevada for the first time this season and the second time in WAC play, eliminating the Wolf Pack 83-75 at the Pan Am.

The Aggies look to repeat as WAC Tournament champions when they face Boise State tonight at 7 p.m.

"We are pretty familiar with them (Boise State)," said NMSU first-year coach Marvin Menzies, who improved to 22-10 in his first season as a Division I head coach. "I said coming in that I thought any of the top four seeds were capable of winning. Number one and two are gone, but three and four could have been one and two. Fortunately we came out on the right side of that."

Aggies freshman forward Herb Pope played through an 0-for-12 start to the WAC Tournament to finish with career highs with 18 points and 13 rebounds on Friday. He scored 10 straight points and blocked a Marcelus Kemp shot with 1:26 left to hold off the Wolf Pack.

"I didn't realize it was 10 points, I was just caught up in the moment," Pope said. "The whole game plan was to pound it into our big men and kick it out for 3-pointers..."

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WAC Tournament: Nevada bounced in semis; NCAA bid over
Steve Sneddon
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
March 15, 2008

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Although it was an amazing comeback, the Nevada basketball team got buried in an avalanche of New Mexico State rebounds.

The Wolf Pack wiped out a 13-point second-half deficit to tie the game, but couldn't go any further, largely because it couldn't get rebounds when it badly needed them.

Justin Hawkins scored 23 points and Herb Pope had 18 to lead the Aggies to an 83-75 win over Nevada in a semifinal game of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in front of 9,983 fans at the Pan American Center on Friday night.

After falling behind 57-44 with 8 minutes, 53 seconds left, Brandon Fields scored 10 points on a 17-4 run that enabled the Pack to tie the game at 61-61 with 4:22 left.

Pope broke a 61-61 tie with a tip-in at 3:18 as the Aggies outscored Nevada, 22-14 for the resmainder of the game. Although the Pack was able to mount a comeback, New Mexico State controlled the game on the boards, outrebounding Nevada, 52-25...

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BSU men will play for the WAC crown Saturday
Nick Jezierny
Idaho Statesman
March 15, 2008

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Boise State men's basketball team paid one debt Friday night and has a chance to pay another Saturday.

The Broncos dominated Utah State 88-78 in a WAC Tournament semifinal at the Pan American Center, avenging two regular-season losses in a game with so much at stake.

The victory advanced BSU to Saturday night's nationally televised championship game against New Mexico State - another team with two regular-season wins over BSU - and gives the Broncos a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

A loss means BSU will have to wait and see if one of the other postseason tournaments - the NIT or the inaugural College Basketball Invitational - come calling Sunday night.

"All of this means nothing if we don't win (Saturday)," BSU senior Matt Bauscher said. "It's the biggest game of our lives, and we'll see what happens."

New Mexico State beat Nevada 83-75 in Friday's other semifinal, outrebounding the Wolf Pack 52-25 and shooting twice as many free throws on their home floor as the Wolf Pack.

"They're probably the biggest and most athletic team in the conference, and that's where they create problems," BSU coach Greg Graham said.

The Broncos have witnessed those problems before.

BSU (24-8) was swept by NMSU (21-13) this season and has lost six in a row to the Aggies. NMSU won the last meeting 99-80 in Las Cruces and knocked the Broncos out of last year's conference tournament in this same building...

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BSU treys do in Ags
Shawn Harrison
Logan Herald Journal
March 15, 2008

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Reaching a conference tournament title game in men’s basketball has become almost a regular occurrence at Utah State.

The Aggies had played in the championship contest the last three years and seven of the previous eight seasons with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line. That will not happen this time around.

USU will have to fall back on its automatic berth to the NIT to reach the postseason for the ninth straight year. The Aggies got bucked by Boise State 88-78 Friday night at the Pan American Center in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Broncos will face tournament host New Mexico State tonight at 7 in the title tilt with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line. The southern Aggies beat Nevada in the second semifinal of the night, 83-75.

The top-seeded Aggies faced a much more determined Bronco bunch than they did a week ago. USU ruined BSU’s Senior Night, 88-69, and the Broncos had that on their minds going into the third meeting between these schools.

“It (last week’s loss to USU) was pretty much the worst basketball moment of my life on Senior Night,” said BSU senior guard Matt Bauscher, who had a game-best 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting, which included 5-of-6 from 3-point land. “They spoiled our Senior Night. ... As a team, we just came out and got after it.”

Boy, did they...

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