Cougars

“Viva Los Aztecs!”

For the second consecutive year, both the SDSU men and women have reached the finals of the Mountain West Conference tournament. The Aztec men did it in heart-stopping fashion for a second-straight day, knocking off No. 8-ranked New Mexico, 72-69, to not only reach the championship round, but also — more importantly — all but officially clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Bracketologists everywhere have now moved SDSU (24-8) from the nerve-racking neighborhood of the bubble belt to the cushy surroundings of lock-city regardless of what happens in today’s men’s final against host UNLV. In beating the regular-season champion Lobos for the second time this season, and snapping their 15-game winning streak, the Aztecs have advanced their RPI ranking all the way into the nation’s Top 25.

“We’ve lost only four games all season, and two of them are to San Diego State,” said the conference’s Coach of the Year, New Mexico’s Steve Alford. “We’ve won six games over Top 25 teams, and that Aztec team is as good if not better than any of them.”

Meanwhile, Beth Burns’ lady Aztecs displayed all of their many talents in a 77-47 dismantling of BYU in Friday’s women’s semifinals. SDSU (20-10) is in the conference tournament final for a third-consecutive season but, unlike the previous two years, must win today to be NCAA bound. If the Aztecs play anything like they did against the second-seeded Cougars, defending MWC champ Utah won’t stand a chance in a reprise of last year’s final, which was won by the Utes, 63-58.

“We’ve got our eyes on the prize and we’re playing really well,” said Burns, whose hard-to-figure preseason conference favorites stumbled throughout the regular season but have now won their last five straight. “It’s March, and it’s a whole different deal at this point.”

In a city built on star power, San Diego State basketball has showcased its bevy of headliners all week long at the Thomas & Mack Center, the men winning twice over Colorado State and now New Mexico, and the women winning twice as well over Wyoming and now BYU.

The stars for the Aztec men came in the form of shooting-stars in the men’s semifinal against New Mexico. All season plagued by poor outside shooting, SDSU found the range Friday, knocking down 10 of their 16 three-point attempts. Freshman Kawhi Leonard, a 19-percent three-point shooter on the season, set the tone for the evening by knocking down back-to-back three’s to open the scoring and help SDSU race out to an 11-0 lead.

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