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Boise State, Colorado State pull off upsets to set up MWC title game showdown

With conference tournament quarterfinals and semifinals happening all across the country, it was hard to key in on which games would have the biggest impact on Selection Sunday, but by the end of the night, the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas proved to have provided the crucial results. Both Boise State and Colorado State came into Friday on the wrong side of the bubble, but after each team won, they will meet in Saturday’s Mountain West Championship game with the winner claiming an automatic bid.

In the first semifinal, Boise State took down top-seeded New Mexico 72-69, powered by the play of senior forward Tyson Degenhart. Degenhart has seen his fair share of NCAA Tournament losses throughout his Boise State career, but he’s now one game away from having a chance to exorcise all of those demons. Degenhart finished with 22 points to lead Boise State in scoring, while Dutch sophomore Emmanuel Ugbo added a career-high 17 points off the bench to provide a much-needed spark.

After meeting each other late in the regular season just a few weeks back, Colorado State and Utah State met once again in the second semifinal matchup. Backing up a 93-66 home win over Utah State in the most recent meeting, Colorado State once again got the best of the Aggies with an 83-72 win, jumping out to a 19-point halftime lead and coasting from there.

Nique Clifford has quietly become one of the best players in the country, not just in the mid-major world, showing out on a big stage once again. The Colorado Springs native is averaging 18.8 ppg, 9.8 rpg, and 4.4 apg on the season, exceeding all of those numbers in Vegas Friday night though with an outstanding 26 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. Kyan Evans and Jalen Lake each added 14 points, and the trio of Clifford, Evans, and Lake combined to hit nine three-pointers as Colorado State shot 10-of-18 from behind the arc as a team.

With Boise State and Colorado State both more than likely out with a loss in Saturday’s championship game, the winner will claim the automatic bid and the term “bid-stealer”, taking a bid from a bubble team. Whether it will be Tyson Degenhart or Nique Clifford reaching the NCAA Tournament once again is still in question, but there are two things for certain. The Mountain West will have at least three tournament teams, if not four, and the 6:00 ET showdown on CBS between Boise State and Colorado State on Saturday night will be must-see television.

Other Things to Note:

• Conference tournament action continues all-day Saturday on a range of networks with 12 automatic bids being claimed