Mountain West NCAA Tournament recap: Colorado State, New Mexico bow out in second round

The Mountain West Conference sent two men’s basketball teams to the NCAA Tournament second round: Colorado State and New Mexico.

Both teams held halftime leads in their round of 32 matchups but could not secure trips to the Sweet 16.

12th-seeded Colorado State, which knocked off Memphis in the opening round, participated in the game of the tournament Sunday evening against fourth-seeded Maryland. Terrapins freshman sensation Derik Queen hit a buzzer-beater for a 72-71 victory.

10th-seeded New Mexico was outscored 42-32 in the second half Sunday night by second-seeded Michigan State. The Spartans pulled out a 71-63 win to reach the Sweet 16.

For the first time in NCAA Tournament history, no teams from a mid-major conference advanced to the Sweet 16. Only the four football power conferences — the SEC (seven teams, a new record), Big Ten (four), Big 12 (four) and ACC (one) — are represented.

After the Maryland loss, Colorado State coach Niko Medved was asked about the lack of Cinderellas in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

“I think what’s changed in college basketball is there’s not as many old mid-major teams … where you’ve got guys who played together for two, three, four years,” Medved said. “Because older guys who have played together are really, really good. So there’s some of that, but sometimes it’s just the way the year goes. I think it’s hard to generalize.”

Queen’s buzzer-beater snapped Colorado State’s 11-game winning streak. The Rams ripped through the MWC Tournament and had no trouble with Memphis in the opening round.

Facing Big Ten power Maryland (27-8) to go to the Sweet 16, Colorado State (26-10) took the lead with 6.1 seconds remaining on a Jalen Lake 3-pointer. But Queen, a projected top-10 NBA Draft pick, put the Terrapins on his back and converted a difficult fallaway runner at the buzzer.

“Colorado State is really good,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said. “Niko does an unbelievable job, and I thought it was a great game. … Give Colorado State a lot of credit, they’re an excellent basketball team. I feel bad that they had to go that way.”

Nique Clifford shined for the Rams with 21 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two blocks. The 6-foot-6 Clifford is an NBA Draft riser.

The Lobos (27-8), who took down Marquette in their tournament opener, led by as many as 10 points in the first half against Big Ten regular-season champion Michigan State (29-6). The Spartans benefited from a favorable whistle to close it out, going 19 of 28 from the foul line while the Lobos shot just 10 free throws, making five.

“I thought (New Mexico) really played well the first half of that game,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “That was as good of a barrage as we’ve had hit us. It wasn’t that we were down a lot — 10 points — but it just seemed like we weren’t guarding and they were making shots, and give them credit.”

The Spartans hounded New Mexico point guard Donovan Dent, the MWC Player of the Year. Dent finished with 14 points and six assists.

“I thought Jeremy (Fears Jr.) and Jaden (Atkins) and Tre (Hollman) did a good job on Dent,” Izzo said. “Dent is a hell of a player.”

With Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State and Utah State all out of the NCAA Tournament and San Jose State falling in the opening round of the NIT, Boise State is the lone MWC team still alive in the postseason.

The Broncos (24-10) are set to take on George Washington (21-12) in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Crown. The 16-team tournament runs March 31 through April 6 in Las Vegas, nestled between the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight and the national championship game.

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