Tuesday, March 31 - New York, N.Y. - Semifinals
SAN DIEGO STATE vs. Baylor, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Notre Dame vs. Penn State, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Thursday, April 2 - New York, N.Y. - Championship
SAN DIEGO STATE/Baylor vs. Notre Dame/Penn State, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
POSTSEASON RESULTS
National Invitation Tournament
Tuesday, March 17 - First Round
@SAN DIEGO STATE 65, Weber State 49
@NEW MEXICO 83, Nebraska 71, ESPNU
@Kentucky 70, UNLV 60 ESPN
Thursday, March 19 - Second Round
@Notre Dame 70, NEW MEXICO 68, ESPN2
Friday, March 20 - Second Round
@SAN DIEGO STATE 70, Kansas State 52
Wednesday, March 25 - Quarterfinals
@SAN DIEGO STATE 70, St. Mary's 66, ESPN2
College Basketball Invitational
Tuesday, March 17 - First Round
Northeastern 64, @WYOMING 62, HDNet
NCAA Tournament
Thursday, March 19 - Philadelphia, Pa. - First Round
No. 9 Texas A&M 79, No. 8 BYU 66, CBS
Friday, March 20 - Miami, Fla. - First Round
No. 12 Arizona 84, No. 5 UTAH 71, CBS
MWC POSTSEASON NOTES
As the No. 1 seed in the West Region of the NIT, San Diego State (26-9) advanced to the semifinals
with wins over Weber State (65-49), Kansas State (70-52) and St. Mary's (70-66). The Aztecs, who
boast a +12.7 scoring margin thus far in NIT action, will travel to New York City for a date with No.
3 seed Baylor on Tuesday, March 31. Semifinal action gets underway at 7 p.m. ET with SDSU and
Baylor taking the court, followed by the Notre Dame-Penn State contest at 9 p.m. ET. Both semifinal
games will be televised live on ESPN2. The winners will advance to Thursday's championship game, set
for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
San Diego State's trip to New York marks the second time in the Mountain West Conference's nine-year
history an MWC squad has advanced to the semifinals of the NIT. Prior to this season, Air Force made
it to the NIT semifinals during the 2006-07 season, falling to Clemson (68-67).
Of the current nine MWC members, only Utah and BYU have won postseason NIT championships. The
Utes defeated Kentucky (49-45) to claim the 1947 crown, while the Cougars have won two NIT titles,
beating Dayton (62-43) and NYU (97-84) in the 1951 and 1966 championships, respectively.
For the first time in the 10-year history of the Mountain West Conference, five teams topped the 20-
win mark heading into postseason play, with BYU (25-8), New Mexico (22-12), San Diego State (26-
9), UNLV (21-11) and No. 25 Utah (24-10) all hitting the benchmark. In 10 years of the MWC, all 33
teams that have had 20 or more wins prior to "Selection Sunday" have been invited to the postseason.
Overall, the MWC has had 42 postseason bids since its inception in 1999-2000.
Utah entered postseason action ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press poll and received votes in the
USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, along with BYU.
BYU and No. 25 Utah were included in the field of 65 for the 2009 NCAA Tournament, marking the
eighth straight year the Mountain West had at least one at-large qualifier on Selection Sunday. In 10
years, the MWC has had 22 NCAA bids, including 13 at-large berths. New Mexico, San Diego State
and UNLV secured bids to the National Invitation Tournament, while Wyoming was invited to
participate in the College Basketball Invitational.
Number five seed and MWC Tournament champion Utah (24-10) ended its season with an 84-71loss
to No. 12 seed Arizona (21-13) in the Midwest Regional at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Fla. BYU
(25-8) completed its 2008-09 season with a 79-66 loss to No. 9 seed Texas A&M (24-10) at the
Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pa. The No. 5 and 8 rankings marked the two highest seeds the
Mountain West Conference has ever received in the same NCAA Tournament.
Utah posted a 3-4 record vs. teams in the NCAA Tournament field this season, topping LSU, Gonzaga and
Morgan State while falling to California, Oklahoma, Utah State and Arizona. BYU compiled a 1-3 mark
against NCAA participants in 2008-09, beating Utah State, and losing to Arizona State, Wake Forest and
Texas A&M.
BYU met Texas A&M for the second straight year in first-round action of the NCAA Tournament. Last
year, the Aggies held on for a 67-62 win over the Cougars. Overall, BYU is 1-2 all-time vs. Texas
A&M, claiming an 83-81 victory in the first meeting on Dec. 28, 1972.
No. 25 Utah earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the MWC's
10-year history, and made its sixth trip in that span. Overall, the Utes have participated in 27 NCAA
Tournaments, compiling a 35-30 (.538) record with four Final Four appearances. Utah's last visit to the Big
Dance was in 2005, where the Utes advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to Kentucky (62-52).
BYU earned an at-large bid for the fifth time in seven years and made its 24th trip to the Big Dance
overall. With the loss to Texas A&M last Thursday, the Cougars, 11-27 (.289) in NCAA Tournament
action, are now on an eight-game NCAA losing streak that dates back to a first-round win vs. SMU
(80-71) in the 1993 tournament.
New Mexico (22-12), San Diego State (26-9) and UNLV (21-11) all received invitations to the NIT. The
Lobos opened tournament play with an 83-71 win over Nebraska on March 17 before falling to Notre
Dame, 70-68, on March 19. The Runnin' Rebels fell to Kentucky (70-60) on March 17 to end their
season. The Aztecs, a No. 1 seed in their region, defeated Weber State (65-49) on March 17 to
advance to the second round where they were victorious over Kansas State (70-52). SDSU then
defeated St. Mary's (70-66) in the quarterfinal round to advance to the semifinals at Madison Square
Garden in New York.
In the College Basketball Invitational, Wyoming concluded its season with a loss to Northeastern (64-
62) in the College Basketball Invitational. It was the Cowboys' first postseason appearance since a trip
to the NIT in 2003.
BYU, NEW MEXICO AND UTAH SHARE MWC REGULAR-SEASON CROWN
For the second time in the 10-year history of the Mountain West, three teams laid claim to a share of the
regular-season crown as BYU, New Mexico and No. 25 Utah each finished with a 12-4 mark in league play
in 2008-09. This marks the fifth shared or outright title for both BYU and Utah, while New Mexico claims its
first. BYU and Utah were also members of the first set of MWC tri-champions, sharing the 2000-01 regularseason
title with Wyoming. The Cougars' and Utes' five crowns apiece are the most in the 10-year history
of the league, followed by Wyoming with two during that span. Air Force and UNLV have also claimed one
title each. Air Force (2003-04), BYU, (2006-07, 2007-08), Utah (2004-05), San Diego State (2005-06) and
Wyoming (2001-02) are the only teams to win an outright MWC title.
UTES CLAIM SECOND MWC TOURNAMENT CROWN
No. 25 Utah captured its second MWC Tournament crown, defeating San Diego State, 52-50, in the 2009
tourney finals on March 14. The contest marked the third consecutive year the title was won by the No. 2 seed
(UNLV in 2007 and 2008). The Utes began their run to the crown with a 61-58 win over TCU in quarterfinal
action and a 68-55 victory vs. Wyoming in the semifinals before meeting up with the Aztecs in the finals.
SDSU'S KELVIN DAVIS RECIPIENT OF USBWA MOST COURAGEOUS AWARD
San Diego State senior guard Kelvin Davis has been named the 2009 recipient of the U.S. Basketball
Writers Association's Most Courageous Award. Davis, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma shortly
after the 2007-08 season, went through chemotherapy and radiation treatments during the summer and into
the early part of the 2008-09 basketball campaign. Despite his health status, Davis returned to the team
and has played in eight games during the 2008-09 season. The Waterbury, Conn., native will be honored
at the USBWA's Awards Breakfast, Monday, April 6 in Detroit. Davis is also one of 12 finalists for the V
Foundation Comeback Award, presented by The V Foundation for Cancer Research. That winner will be
announced the weekend of the NCAA Final Four.
MOUNTAIN WEST DOMINATES NABC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
Ten Mountain West student-athletes were named to the 2008-09 National Association of Basketball Coaches'
(NABC) Division 17 All-District team. BYU's Lee Cummard, San Diego State's Kyle Spain and Lorrenzo
Wade, UNLV's Wink Adams and Utah's Luke Nevill were selected to the first team, while New Mexico's Tony
Danridge and Daniel Faris, TCU's Kevin Langford, UNLV's Rene Rougeau and Wyoming's Brandon Ewing
were named to the second team. This marks the first time in league history that an all-district basketball team
was comprised strictly of players from the MWC.
UTAH'S LUKE NEVILL HONORED BY USBWA
Utah senior center Luke Nevill was chosen as the 2008-09 District VIII Player of the Year by the U.S.
Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Nevill, the 2008-09 MWC Player and Defensive Player of the
Year, leads the league in rebounding (9.0 rpg) and blocks (2.7 bpg) and ranks fourth in scoring (16.8 ppg).
He headlines a USBWA All-District VIII team that also includes BYU's Lee Cummard and Jimmer Fredette,
New Mexico's Tony Danridge and Wyoming's Brandon Ewing.
IT'S ALL ACADEMIC
New Mexico forward Roman Martinez was named to the 2008-09 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District
VI Men's Basketball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The
junior from El Paso, Texas, holds a 3.45 cumulative grade point average in University Studies and was
recently accepted to the UNM Anderson School of Management. Martinez averaged 10.6 points and 6.4
rebounds per game this season.
GOING DANCING
Over its 10-year history, the Mountain West has received 22 bids to the NCAA Tournament, including 13 atlarge
berths. The MWC has had at least one at-large qualifier in nine of those 10 years, including eight
straight. The only year in which the MWC sent a lone representative to the Big Dance was in 2000-01, when
BYU, Utah and Wyoming shared the regular-season title and the Cougars captured the league's automatic
bid by winning the MWC Tournament. Below is a breakdown of the league's NCAA participants by year.
The Mountain West was not eligible to receive an automatic bid in its first year (1999-00). UNLV and Utah
earned at-large bids to the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
YEAR
REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPION
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER
AT-LARGE QUALIFIER
1999-00
UNLV/Utah
Not eligible
UNLV/Utah
2000-01
BYU/Utah/Wyoming
BYU
None
2001-02
Wyoming
San Diego State
Utah/Wyoming
2002-03
BYU/Utah
Colorado State
BYU/Utah
2003-04
Air Force
Utah
Air Force/BYU
2004-05
Utah
New Mexico
Utah
2005-06
San Diego State
San Diego State
Air Force
2006-07
BYU
UNLV
BYU
2007-08
BYU
UNLV
BYU
2008-09
BYU/New Mexico/Utah
Utah
BYU
20 WINS=POSTSEASON
A league-record five MWC teams have reached the 20-win benchmark in 2008-09. San Diego State leads
the quintet with 26 victories, followed by BYU with 25, No. 25 Utah with 24, and New Mexico and UNLV tied
with 21 wins each. The previous best for most 20-win teams at the end of regular-season play was four in
2006-07, when BYU, UNLV, Air Force and San Diego State all hit the mark prior to the MWC Tournament.
In the 10-year history of the Mountain West, all 34 MWC teams that have had 20 or more wins prior to
"Selection Sunday" have been invited to the postseason. This season, BYU (25-8) and Utah (24-10) each
received invitations to the NCAA Tournament, while New Mexico (22-12), San Diego State (26-9) and UNLV
(21-11) were invited to participate in the NIT. In addition, Wyoming (19-14) played in the College
Basketball Invitational. Overall, the MWC has had 45 postseason bids since 2000.
ROAD WARRIORS
BYU won a league-record nine road games this season, while tying the mark for
most road victories (six) in Conference play. Four teams shared the previous mark
of eight overall road wins: Air Force (2003-04), UNLV (2006-07), BYU (2007-08)
and New Mexico (2007-08). BYU also tallied six MWC road victories last season,
matching the 2004-05 Utah and 2005-06 San Diego State squads.
BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE
For the 10th consecutive year, home attendance at the nine MWC institutions
combined to top the one million mark, with 1,2018,664 fans coming through the
turnstiles in 2008-09. The MWC has ranked among the top seven conferences
nationally in attendance in each of its first 10 years of existence. New Mexico
averaged a league-high 13,994 fans in 18 contests this season at The Pit, while
UNLV was second with an average attendance of 13,446 in 18 games in the
Thomas and Mack Center.
UTAH'S LUKE NEVILL IS MWC TOP REBOUNDER
Luke Nevill, the MWC's all-time leading rebounder, pulled down six boards in
Utah's season-ending loss to Arizona last week to give him 943 for his career. The
previous league record of 841 career rebounds was held by UNLV's Dalron
Johnson (1999-03). Nevill posted double-digit rebounds in 16 of 34 games this
season and leads the league with a 9.0 average on the glass.
BRANDON EWING AND LUKE NEVILL JOIN 100/100 CLUB
Wyoming's Brandon Ewing started 125 games and scored in double-figures in
107 contests in his career, while Utah's Luke Nevill started 100 games and tallied
106 double-digit scoring games, to become only the second and third players,
respectively, in MWC history to reach that particular 100/100 milestone. San
Diego State's Brandon Heath was the first player to accomplish the feat, starting
120 games with 112 double-digit scoring efforts during his career (2003-07).
UNLV's Wink Adams came close to breaking into the exclusive club with 122 starts
and 99 twin-figure games.
