March 9, 2013

Related Links

2013 Reese's MW Basketball Championship Central UNLVTickets.com MW Men's Basketball Home page MW Women's Basketball Home page Follow @TheMWC Follow @MW_MHoops Follow @MW_WHoops

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Regular-season champion New Mexico enters the 2013 Reese's Mountain West Men's Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed for the second time in the league's 14-year history. The Lobos captured their fourth MW regular-season title, including their second outright, with a 13-3 record this year.

Colorado State finished second in the standings and earned the No. 2 seed, while UNLV finished third to capture the No. 3 seed. The MW Men's Basketball Championship will be held in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center, March 12-16. Action gets underway Tuesday, March 12, with a first-round matchup airing on the Mountain West Network. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds take place on Wednesday, March 13 and Friday, March 15, respectively, and will be televised on CBS Sports Network. The championship game will be broadcast on CBS at 3 p.m. PT on Saturday, March 16.

No. 3 seed UNLV (23-8, 10-6) faces No. 6 seed Air Force (17-12, 8-8) in the Noon PT quarterfinal game on Wednesday. The Runnin' Rebels are 1-0 vs. the Falcons in MW tournament play, winning a 2011 quarterfinal meeting. UNLV holds a 21-9 all-time record in the MW tournament, while the Falcons are 2-13. The Rebels split this season's series with the Falcons and lead the overall series by a 29-9 margin.

No. 2 seed Colorado State (24-7, 11-5) takes on No. 7 seed Fresno State (11-18, 5-11) in the 2:30 p.m. PT quarterfinal game. The Rams and Bulldogs will be meeting in MW tournament play for the first time. Colorado State is 8-12 all-time in the MW tournament, while this will be Fresno State's first appearance. The Rams have an 11-9 advantage in the series after sweeping the Bulldogs this season.

No. 1 seed New Mexico (26-5, 13-3) will face the winner of Tuesday's first-round game between No. 8 seed Wyoming (18-12, 4-12) and No. 9 seed Nevada (12-18, 3-13) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. PT. Wyoming swept Nevada in regular-season play and leads the all-time series, 9-1. The Cowboys and Wolf Pack will be meeting for the first time in MW tournament action. Wyoming is 7-13 in the MW tournament, while this will be Nevada's first appearance.

San Diego State (21-9, 9-7) and Boise State (21-9, 9-7) tied for fourth in the standings. The Aztecs won the tiebreaker for the No. 4 seed by virtue of their victory over top-seeded New Mexico during Conference play, and will face the fifth-seeded Broncos in the 9 p.m. PT quarterfinal game. San Diego State won its only previous MW tournament meeting with Boise State in the 2012 quarterfinals. The Aztecs are 18-9 in the MW tournament, while the Broncos are 0-1. San Diego State leads the overall series, 5-1, after splitting this season's meetings with Boise State.

MW Championship Notes

• The MW tournament has produced six different champions in 13 years. UNLV (2000, 2007, 2008), San Diego State (2002, 2006, 2010, 2011) and New Mexico (2005, 2012) are the only current MW teams to have won multiple titles while Colorado State (2003) has captured one crown.

• The No. 1 seed has won the tournament just twice in 13 years. UNLV entered the inaugural MW tournament as the top seed in 2000 and won the title. In 2006, San Diego State became the second No. 1 seed to claim the crown.

• Teams seeded No. 2 through No. 6 have all captured tournament championships, while the No. 7 seed is 0-1 in title games. The No. 8 and No. 9 seeds have yet to appear in the championship game.

• A Mountain West regular-season champion has made it to the finals of the tournament nine times in 13 years, winning the championship six times. San Diego State (2006) is the only team to capture both an outright regular-season title and the tournament crown in the same year (2006).

2013 REESE'S MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS Thomas & Mack Center - Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday, March 12
5 p.m.	First Round	No. 8 Wyoming vs. No. 9 Nevada	Mountain West Network
Wednesday, March 13
Noon	Quarterfinal Game #1	No. 3 UNLV vs. No. 6 Air Force
2:30 p.m.	Quarterfinal Game #2	No. 2 Colorado State vs. No. 7 Fresno State
6:30 p.m.	Quarterfinal Game #3	No. 1 New Mexico vs. No. 8/9 Winner
9 p.m.	Quarterfinal Game #4	No. 4 San Diego State vs. No. 5 Boise State
Friday, March 15
6 p.m.	Semifinal Game #1	Quarterfinal #3 and #4 Winners
8:30 p.m.	Semifinal Game #2	Quarterfinal #1 and #2 Winners
Saturday, March 16
3 p.m.	Championship Game
All games are Pacific Time.

MW BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TICKET INFORMATION
All-session and single-session tickets for the 2013 Reese's Mountain West Men's Basketball Championship may be purchased at the Thomas & Mack Center box office, online at UNLVTickets.com, by calling 702-739-3267 or 866-388-3267, or by visiting any one of the UNLVTickets outlets in Las Vegas. The Thomas & Mack Center box office will be open Monday, March 11 at 10 a.m. PT.

Printer-friendly format	Email this article