UNLV Loses March Madness Classic To San Diego State In Overtime Despite Big Game From Freshman Dedan Thomas Jr.; Mountain West’s Hoops Teams Pay Off Bigtime For Conference
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
The kid’s a mere 18 years old.
Yet, UNLV’s six-foot, one-inch 170-pound Dedan Thomas, Jr. shouldered UNLV’s comeback against NCAA championship finalist San Diego State and nearly sent a heart-thumping March Madness game into a second overtime against the Aztecs.
Instead, Thomas, Jr. had tears in his eyes after the Runnin’ Rebels lost a hard-fought Mountain West Conference tournament quarterfinal game to San Diego State, 74-71.
“Just another night in the Mountain West,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher observed in his post-game comments from the media room dias.
Late in the first half, UNLV led by 10.
In the second half, San Diego State — triggered by Jaedon LeDee’s elite play — took a ten-point lead.
But in the end, the Aztecs had an astounding 25 offensive rebounds and took 19 more shots than UNLV, which missed the inside presence of an injured Kalib Boone.
“The key to the game was rebounding,” Dutcher said.
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UNLV’s Mountain West Conference has enjoyed a banner season, drawing praise from TV’s hoopheads and college basketball’s insiders.
Seven teams (UNLV, Nevada, Utah State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Boise State and Colorado State) entered the MWC tourney with legitimate arguments to justify a bid to the NCAA’s Big Dance.
The four quarterfinal games were classic match-ups Thursday.
Top-seeded Utah State needed overtime to dispatch a scrappy Fresno State squad in Game 1. Then Game 2 was then OT battle secured by San Diego State over UNLV.
Colorado State vs Nevada and New Mexico vs Boise State were next on the schedule today.
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The first half of the San Diego State-UNLV game today was like the UNLV Lady Rebels vs San Diego State MWC championship women’s game — low scoring and lots of missed shots.
The UNLV women clinched their third straight Mountain West title by finding their scoring touch in the second half.
The men’s first half was like a football game on a basketball court, a physical tussle that ended with bodies on the floor on many plays.
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The Mountain West Conference is committed to staging its tourney at Thomas & Mack through 2025. With the Pac-12 Conference falling apart to two lone schools, would the MWC consider moving to T-Mobile Arena after 2025?
“All cards are on the table. We’ll do our due diligence,” said Mountain West Conference’s marketing head, Javan Hedlund.
The conference’s stellar basketball teams have translated into more revenue from the tournament on the quarterfinal day Thursday than the entire revenue total from the 2023 MWC tourney, said Hedlund, senior associate commissioner for external communications strategy.
People are jumping on the “#6bidMW” hashtag, he noted.
“This is the tournament to be at and watch this year. It does wonders for your brand,” Hedlund said. “This solidifies the Mountain West as the best conference in the West.”
Speaking of brands, the conference is fading out its “At The Peak” slogan and will unveil branding with a new slogan.
Today’s four games were sold in two session packages — the Utah State/Fresno State and UNLV/San Diego State first session and the Colorado State/Nevada and Boise State/New Mexico. The average ticket price was $65.
For the two semifinal games Friday, ticket prices are $50 upper bowl and $95 for lower bowl, Hedlund said.
