New Mexico vs. San Diego State final score: Tony Snell leads Lobos past Aztecs, win 60-50

The New Mexico Lobos advanced to their second straight Mountain West title game after an easier than expected win over the San Diego St. Aztecs, winning 60-50. Tony Snell came up big by leading the Lobos past the Aztecs with 17 points. Snell scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, and made four shots from beyond the arc.

At the end of the first half this game it was 29-20 in favor of New Mexico, and the game had the possibility of looking like the low scoring game that was played in San Diego. Things changed in the second half where the Lobos offense showed up big time as they started by going on a 14-2 run to start the second frame.

Snell was the big reason the Lobos pulled away as he made three consecutive three-point shots in that run to essentially wrap the game up within the first four minutes of the second half.

San Diego State did make a run late in the second half when the went on an 8-1 run to make it a nine-point game with 4:39 left, but that was the closest the Aztecs would get.

The Aztecs Jamaal Franklin was held in check on Friday as he scored just eight points, and was held to just 3 of 12 shooting from the field. He was defended by Snell and it can not be stated enough how well he played for New Mexico.

The Lobos defense was the key in this game as they held the Aztecs to just 31.2 percent shooting from the field. Rebound and three-point shooting also played a key roll for the Lobos, they converted 7 of 19 from beyond the arc and were outrebounded the Aztecs by nine.

New Mexico now faces the winner of Colorado State vs. UNLV at 6 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS.