NCAA Tournament first round recap: Colorado State, New Mexico snag wins for Mountain West

MWC bounces back from 0-2 start

New Mexico guard Donovan Dent is defended by Marquette Golden guard Stevie Mitchell. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Colorado State and New Mexico — the two best men’s basketball teams in the Mountain West — rescued the conference from a rough start to the NCAA Tournament. 

Following non-competitive losses by San Diego State and Utah State, the Rams and Lobos both secured victories Friday as the first round came to a close. 

12th-seeded Colorado State dominated the second half en route to a 78-70 win over fifth-seeded Memphis. Later in the day, 10th-seeded New Mexico earned a hard-fought 75-66 victory over seventh-seeded Marquette.

Trailing 36-31 at halftime, the Rams (26-9) won the final 20 minutes 47-34 to nab the program’s second NCAA Tournament victory in as many seasons. 

Colorado State star guard Nique Clifford went just 3 of 13 from the field while missing all six of his 3-point attempts but still finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Clifford had a big steal that led to a Bowen Born transition layup as the Rams began to pull away midway through the second half at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena. 

“Maybe not my best shooting night, but I just try to find ways to do other things to impact the game when I’m not shooting it well,” Clifford said. “Plays like that definitely get our team going, get us some momentum. I feel like that was a big swing in the game just giving us some energy.”

Kyan Evans went 6 of 9 from beyond the arc en route to a career-high 23 points. The sophomore point guard also tallied four assists and two steals. 

PJ Haggerty, the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, finished with 18 points on 7 of 23 shooting for Memphis (29-6).

Dain Dainja hurt the Rams inside with 22 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Dainja did not score in the final 12:23 of play.

Colorado State will take on fourth-seeded Maryland (26-8) of the Big Ten in Sunday’s second round. The Rams have won 11 straight games. 

New Mexico (27-7) also finished strong with an 18-8 run over the final six-plus minutes to eliminate Marquette (23-11) at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It was the Lobos’ first NCAA Tournament victory since 2012.

Tru Washington spearheaded a ferocious New Mexico defense that recorded eight steals and limited star guard Kam Jones — a first-team all-Big East selection — to 15 points and four turnovers. 

“I was very excited,” Washington said of the matchup with Jones. “He’s an All-American, and I just had to come out here and showcase my defense. Kam (scored) 15 points, but I know he averages more than that, so we did our job on him.”

MWC Player of the Year Donovan Dent (21 points, six assists) and forward Nelly Junior Joseph (19 points, seven rebounds) led the way for New Mexico. Washington had 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. 

Next up for the Lobos is a Sunday matchup with second-seeded Michigan State (28-6), the Big Ten regular-season champion. 

11th-seeded San Diego State was the first MWC team to take the court in the NCAA Tournament, and the Aztecs weren’t competitive in Tuesday’s 95-68 First Four loss to controversial at-large selection North Carolina.

The Tar Heels led 47-23 at halftime in the runaway play-in victory. 

“Obviously, we wish we would’ve given them more of a game,” Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher said. “But we hang our hat on our defense, and we couldn’t get stops.”

San Diego State had reached the Sweet 16 in each of the past two seasons, including a championship game appearance in 2023. 

10th-seeded Utah State didn’t fare much better in Thursday’s matchup with seventh-seeded UCLA. The Aggies shot just 4 of 31 (12.9 percent) from 3-point range in a 72-47 defeat. 

“Sometimes when you’re not making shots, it affects your defense,” Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “And we let that happen tonight. And unfortunately, we caught UCLA on a night they made shots.”

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