CBB Review hands out awards for each conference tournament in 2024. Up next: The Mountain West Conference Tournament.
The Mountain West Conference Tournament preview had Nevada taking down San Diego State. However, the 6-seed New Mexico won four games in four days to win the championship against San Diego State. Without this win, New Mexico would not have made the tournament and ended up with an 11-seed.
Coach Richard Pitino has the chance to run into Nevada, but both will have to win two games for the MWC rematch. No surprise, but San Diego State is in the tournament taking on UAB. Nevada did not even make it out of their first game, being taken down by Colorado State, and both ended up in the NCAA tournament. Boise State makes six, as the MWC is one of the top conferences that send teams to the NCAA tournament. While the MWC curse remains for a majority, New Mexico hopes to follow the San Diego State path and wear out their dancing shoes.
Your 2024 Mountain West Tournament Champions! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/m5M7RWfLrL
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) March 17, 2024
CBB Review Mountain West Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Jaelen House, New Mexico
Jaelen House, a question mark to return this year, tested the NBA waters last year and was a projected second-round pick. This year, House had the determination to put his name into the first round of the NBA draft. He was placed on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watchlist. He showed out in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, scoring 28 points and coming up with 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals (matching the total steals of the SDSU team). While that is impressive, it was his second game, where he put up 29 points against Boise State, and his offensive consistency puts him above the rest. His lowest-scoring outing was a quiet 16-point opener against Air Force.
Jaelen House and Jamal Mashburn jr. In Mountain West Championship:
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 17, 2024
House: 28 PTS | 10/22 FG | 3 STL
Mashburn Jr: 21 PTS | 4 REB pic.twitter.com/9d4MUgwvN1
CBB Review All-Mountain West Conference Tournament First Team
- G: Jaelen House, New Mexico – 4 GP (23.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.3 SPG)
- F: Joel Scott, Colorado State – 3 GP (16.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.7 APG, 59.4 FG%)
- F: Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State – 3 GP (27.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 55.3 FG%)
- F: JT Toppin, New Mexico – 4 GP (12.3 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.8 BPG, 1.0 SPG, 62.2 FG%)
- F: Great Osobor, Utah State – 2 GP (24.0 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 2.0 BPG, 1.0 SPG, 77.8 FG%)
🕐 Free up your calendar for Friday afternoon!! #GoLobos #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/AlHLfa2wlb
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) March 18, 2024
New Mexico’s NCAA Tournament Prediction
Sweet 16
The Lobos and the nation found out on Selection Sunday that Nevada was traveling to Memphis to take on 8-seed Clemson. New Mexico will come out with a highly balanced team with depth and capable scorers. The Lobos have faced some formidable defenses. Clemson is not in that level of difficulty. It will come down to who plays more offensively as a team.
With the chip on their shoulder, the edge here makes me believe New Mexico will pull off this win. After this, the team will face either Colgate or Baylor, neither of which has shown anything that could cause trouble for the Lobos. The usual stipulation is that any time can go down after a hot night. Still, the defensive ability and maturity of New Mexico can take them into the Sweet 16 with no surprise. While this could be an upset, the balance of this team will give other teams difficulty.
[…] This season has been the Jadeon LeDee show as he was voted onto the AP All-American Third Team and led the Aztecs in scoring with 21.5 points per game. LeDee is playing some of his best basketball right now too as he has failed to score 20+ points just one time since February 9th and averaged 27 points per game in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. […]