Upsets galore in wild day of Mountain West men’s basketball

It was a chaotic Saturday of men’s basketball action across the Mountain West as three conference title contenders all suffered losses.

Nevada (18-9, 10-6) closed the wild day with an 80-77 come-from-behind home win over MWC-leading Utah State (23-4, 13-3). The Aggies led 68-60 with seven minutes remaining but missed some key free throws en route to a 12 of 19 performance (63 percent) at the line.

“I just thought we did a great job,” Wolf Pack head coach Steve Alford said. “We were great on the glass, we were physical all night, we got to the free throw line, we made foul shots. We did what we’ve done a lot this year: we won the last eight minutes. We did a really good job in the last eight minutes, both offensively and defensively.”

The Aggies, who had won eight straight games, lost the rebounding battle 40-30.

“That one stings. But, you know, being 3-1 against them in two years is a pretty big, big accomplishment,” Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “Swept them last year, split this year. Certainly wanted to sweep them this year.”

Utah State holds a one-game lead over New Mexico (21-6, 12-4) and San Diego State (18-8, 12-4) in the MWC standings.

The Aztecs dropped their second straight game on Saturday, stumbling 83-74 at Colorado State (17-10, 8-8). The Rams shot 42 percent (13 of 33) from beyond the arc against San Diego State’s aggressive defense.

“We were a little too careless with our press,” Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher said. “We gave them some open looks early. The press was effective at our place. Rarely do we press on the road as much as we tried, but their offense is so dynamic. If you let them time up everything, they scored on us. … They’re a very good offensive team.”

San Diego State hosts Utah State on Wednesday. The Aggies won the first matchup in Logan, 71-66.

Despite 29 points from Makaih Williams, Grand Canyon (17-10, 10-6) suffered a stunning 70-65 home loss to Wyoming (15-12, 6-10). The Lopes had won back-to-back road games to rise up the MWC standings.

New Mexico roared back from a 22-point first-half deficit to edge Fresno State (12-15, 6-10) on the road, 80-78. The Lobos are just one game out of first place.

UNLV (14-13, 9-7) outscored Air Force (3-24, 0-16) by 22 points in the second half to claim a 91-66 road victory.

Boise State (16-11, 8-8) also rode a big second half to an 84-69 home win over San Jose State (7-20, 2-14).