Mountain West Championship Final: Wyoming Wins It All

LAS VEGAS – Wyoming was without Larry Nance, Jr. due to injury and the team had fallen off the map.  They had been lucky to snag the 4-seed for the conference tournament.  Looks like he came back just in time...

Nance led both teams with 14 points in a low-scoring affair, as the Cowboys beat the Aztecs 45-43 in the Mountain West Championship Game.  He had started the game hot, scoring 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game as the Cowboys jumped out to a 10-point lead.

Josh Adams, who was voted the conference tourney MVP, added 10 points of his own in this game, after a phenomenal 27 points against Boise State yesterday.

For the Aztecs, the young Malik Pope led the team with 13 points and J.J. O'Brien scored 12 points, including making timely free throws to give SDSU the lead with 96 seconds left.  The pro-Wyoming crowd never faltered however, and Josh Adams sealed the Cowboy win with a game-winning three, only his second of the night.

Does this game give the Mountain West four bids to the NCAA Tournament?  We'll know within the next 24 hours...but for now, only one teams is guaranteed to go dancing: the Wyoming Cowboys.

Additional game notes:

• The Wyoming crowd was ELECTRIC.  They showed up strong every game in this tournament.
• Boise State and Colorado State should be biting their nails right now.
• The Aztecs went on a 13-0 run over nearly 11 minutes, what does that say about their great defense and their less-than-great offense?