The past week in Mountain West basketball was another eventful one. A statement from the league office is forthcoming on another ugly incident in Fort Collins, while a logjam of epic proportions is setting up in the conference standings.
Power Rankings
1. Nevada (4-1, 15-3, last week: 2)
They look like the best team in the league when you watch them, and just won consecutive games in two of the most difficult road environments in the league. However, the Wolfpack continue to rely heavily on a six-man rotation and a lack of depth could present challenges in the event of an injury.
2. Boise State (4-1, 11-5, last week: 1)
The Broncos were the last undefeated team in the MW until a loss at Fresno State Saturday ended a seven game win streak. Falling behind 39-6 to start a game on the road doesn’t usually end up working out in conference play.
3. San Diego State (2-3, 10-7, last week: 5)
The Aztecs are one of seven teams with three conference losses, but showed they can take care of business against lesser teams, cruising to wins at home over Utah State and San Jose State. The return of junior forward Malik Pope, who sat out six games with a knee injury, is another reason that SDSU should not be counted out going forward.
4. New Mexico (3-3, 10-8, last week: 3)
The Lobos continue as one of the more difficult teams to read. After last week’s debacle, New Mexico looked to be in a tailspin after losing the UNLV at home, but shot 55% in a road win against Colorado State to salvage a 1-1 week.
5. Fresno State (3-3, 11-7, last week: 6)
After losing back-to-back games to the worst teams in the league, the Bulldogs handed first-place Boise State its first conference loss. Try to figure that one out.
6. Colorado State (3-2, 11-7, last week: 4)
The Rams have beaten the teams they should beat and haven’t shown much else. CSU sits near the bottom of the league in field goal percentage and three-point shooting.
7. UNLV (2-3, 9-9, last week: 9)
The Rebels seem to finish games well when they aren’t getting blown out from the get-go. Upending New Mexico at the Pit by finishing the game on 10-2 run goes down as the biggest upset from the past week.
8. Wyoming (2-3, 12-6, last week: 8)
The Cowboys just haven’t been the same since Jason McManamen has gone cold shooting. They’ve relied on him to hit big shots for the past two seasons, but McManamen is an ugly 5-30 (17%) from three in Wyoming’s five conference games. McManamen isn’t the only one struggling, as the Cowboys hit just seven of 33 three-pointers in a home loss to Nevada Saturday.
9. Utah State (2-4, 8-9, last week: 7)
10. San Jose State (2-3, 9-7, last week: 10)
11. Air Force (2-3, 9-9, last week: 11)
Three stars
1. Cameron Oliver (So., F, Nevada)
Oliver’s physicality was way too imposing for Wyoming to handle Saturday. He threw down a few monster dunks and dominated the boards en route to a 13-point, 16-rebound performance. Nevada coach Eric Musselman needs to threaten him with extra suicides after practice for heaving up three-pointers, but that’s another story.
2. Brandon Clarke (So., F, San Jose State)
The Spartans needed every one of Clarke’s 36 points in an 89-85 win over Air Force Saturday. He shot 72% from the field and filled up the rest of the stat sheet with five blocks, five assists and five rebounds in 37 minutes.
3. Elijah Brown (Jr., G, New Mexico)
Brown flirted with a triple-double Saturday in the Lobos’ win over Colorado State. Shooting 4-6 from three, he scored 25 points and added nine rebounds and seven assists.
Game of the Week
Fresno State at Nevada, Saturday Jan. 21, 6:00 PM ET, CBS Sports
The Wolfpack should be favorites at home, but a national TV broadcast against a decent Fresno State team is as great a chance as any to see the conference front-runners in action.
Extras
National media picked up on Saturday’s New Mexico-Colorado State game, but for all the wrong reasons.
Here’s what is known for sure. New Mexico assistant coaches Terrence Rencher and Chris Herriman were ejected for leaving the bench during the game. The coaches had to restrain their players when tensions boiled over after New Mexico’s Joe Furstinger leveled CSU’s J.D. Paige with a screen near the end of the game.
After the game, Geoff Grammer of the Albuquerque Journal captured a verbal argument between Rencher and CSU’s Emmanuel Omogbo in the parking lot. In the video, three New Mexico coaches appear to be standing aimlessly outside the team bus. Meanwhile, Omogbo threatens physical violence to Rencher and is restrained by CSU coach Larry Eustachy.
The remaining context is all speculation. Eustachy claims that pre-game trash talking got personal, with CSU players making comments about New Mexico coaches being fired, while UNM players went at the Rams for academic suspensions and domestic violence incidents that have plagued CSU over the past year.
Local newspapers got involved, with Matt Stephens of the Coloradoan calling Rencher a “coward” in a column for “loitering in the parking lot outside Moby Arena to pick on a kid.” The conference has said it is investigating the incident, but it seems unlikely that anything definitive will come of it.
Mark your calendars for Feb. 21, when the two teams meet again in Albuquerque. There’s no telling how much weirder this league will get between now and then.