NCAA Mountain West Conference Notes

Sure, the calendar says February, but the first half of the 2006-07 college basketball season has witnessed some memorable moments with conference play just beginning earlier this month.

From the Joakim Noah-Greg Oden battle down in Gainesville to Bobby Knight surpassing Dean Smith for the all-time career coaching wins, this season's storylines continue to build anticipation as March approaches.

But while North Carolina's Tyler Hansborough and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker are showing why their clubs are primed for a run at the Final Four, the Mountain West Conference has grown insurmountably stronger over the last year.

As the season progresses into conference tournaments, the Mountain West will be looking to sure up three bids to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999. And there's even a chance of the conference securing four spots in the 64-team bracket.

Through the first half of the season, the Mountain West posted a 90-33 (.732) mark over the months of November and December, the best non-conference record in the league's eight-year history.

In nonconference games this season, the Mountain West went 77-30 with wins coming against powerhouse conferences like the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 12 and Pac-10.

The conference posted wins over five top 50 teams in the RPI ratings-Nevada, Washington State, California, Kansas State and Texas Tech-while the Mountain West is rated seventh by College Basketball News and eighth by CollegeRPI.com.

UNLV coach Lon Kruger's Rebels pulled off one of the most impressive wins of the season so far, taking out No. 19 Nevada in Reno, and New Mexico pulled off its own inspiring win over a Wichita State team ranked No. 8 in the country earlier this season.

But with Selection Sunday rapidly approaching, Air Force, UNLV and San Diego could be the three schools from the Mountain West that secure at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament.

Mountain West Conference Notes:

Air Force: The Falcons survived a scare at Wyoming on Jan. 13, beating the Cowboys, 58-56, on an inbound pass with 1.4 ticks left on the clock. Coming off a screen set for Matt McCraw near the 3-point line, Jacob Burtschi dove to the basket and got free underneath to lay in the game-winner.

"Wyoming was switching on us all night," Burtschi said following the game. "We set the play so if they didn't switch, we had Matt on the outside. But when No. 5 went with the switch, I just cut back in."

Air Force fell behind early in the contest, but Burtschi led the comeback in the second half, canning three 3-pointers as the Falcons regained the lead with 16:04 left to play.

"It was a horrible first half, for me and for the whole team," the senior from Chickasha, OK said. "Fortunately, we just hung with it, and in the second half we were able to make some plays."

Burtschi finished with 18 points, and the Falcons were 17-1 for the first time in school history.

With the win, Air Force climbed to No. 11 in the country in the Jan. 15 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, marking the program's highest national ranking ever.

"They're tough any place," San Diego State coach Steve Fischer said. "They make it even doubly difficult for you go in there and win. If you're going to beat them anywhere, you better be on your A game."

But the Falcons were brought back down to earth just three days later at Utah, where a fiery crowd energized the Utes for an 85-79 upset, snapping Air Force's 13-game winning streak, tied for the longest in school history.

The last time the Falcons lost backtracks to Nov. 10, when Duke, ranked No. 9 at the time, beat Air Force, 71-56, in Kansas City, MO at the CBE Classic.

Air Force finished the game shooting 48 percent from the field, but the defense couldn't stop even better shooting from Utah, who shot 70.7 percent from the field and sunk 11 consecutive attempts from the free throw line down the stretch.

Even with all the success so far, coach Jeff Bzdelik has had to compensate for his lack of depth off the bench. The second-year coach has stuck with a six-man rotation, and that deficiency could hamper the Falcons come conference tournament time.

"This is conference is so tough, and we understand that," Bzdelik said. "We have a veteran team, and we know how competitive the conference is. We know that every game that there's a very good chance that it's going come down to the last couple of possessions...We understand how important every possession is."

Over the conference's seven-year history, Air Force has never won a conference tournament game despite going in as a No. 3 seed or better.

"Whoever wins this league is going to have four or five loses," added Bzdelik. "Veteran leadership is critical."

But the Falcons have already hit the 20-win mark after defeating Wyoming on Feb. 3, making them already a lock for the NCAA Tournament in early February.

"Air Force is finding ways to win close games, and that's a huge step toward a conference championship," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "Anybody that continues to win close games on the road is gonna win the league, and they certainly are the team to beat at this point."

"Any time you win on the road in this league it's a good win," Rose continued. "They're all places that are hard to come out with a win."

BYU: After witnessing an aerial attack at Pauley Pavilion on top-ranked UCLA to open the season, the Cougars are for real.

BYU might have lost the contest to the Bruins, but Rose's ballclub was impressive from the perimeter in the first half.

The Cougars hit 8-of-9 threes before halftime, but turnovers ultimately got the best of BYU (12-5), who has more recently moved into the Top 50 rankings at No. 48.

The Cougars may have lost at UNLV on Jan. 13, but BYU knows how to protect its home floor, extending its home winning streak to 26 games with an 89-81 victory over Wyoming.

"Everybody in this league has quite an advantage playing at home if you just look at the numbers," Rose said.

While sophomore center Trent Plaistad has continued to develop, senior Kenna Young has been a bright spot for the Cougars, earning Conference Player of the Week honors at the beginning of January.

"Trent has really developed more of his game," Rose commented. "He realizes now that people are going to gameplan for him and do things for him to get to the basket."

The 6-foot-6 forward from Beaumont, Texas was named MVP at the BYU Holiday Classic after leading BYU to the title with victories over Liberty (73-59), Oral Roberts (72-62) and Seton Hall (77-68).

Against Liberty, Young scored 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and had an even more impressive game against ORU, tallying a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with 21 points. Finishing off the tournament versus Seton Hall, he dropped in 18 of his 26 points in the second half and added eight rebounds to help the Cougars outlast the Pirates.

Colorado State: The Rams have struggled in conference play this season and right now sit in the middle of the conference standings, but junior Jason Smith has kept Colorado State within striking distance of second-place UNLV (6-3) and third-place San Diego State (4-4).

The 7-foot center from Kersey, Colo. led the Rams with a career-high performance of 28 points and 11 rebounds in a 88-79 road win at New Mexico, marking just the fourth time in 39 years that Colorado State has won at The Pit. The Lobos had a tough time getting to Smith, who 11-for-15 from the floor and added three assists, two blocks and one steal to his stat line.

"Jason has continued to improve," Colorado State coach Dale Layer said. "Every year he's got better. He has a great passion for basketball, he has a great passion to improve himself...That makes him unusual and special."

Despite losing to Air Force at home, Smith clipped a team-high 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting and brought down a game-high 10 rebounds along with five assists, two blocks and a steal against the first-place Falcons.

"Air Force is finding ways to win close games," Layer added. "That's a huge step toward a conference championship. Anyone that can win close games on the road is going to win the league.

"Anywhere you win on the road is a good win in this league."

New Mexico: The Lobos have been riding the play of junior Tony Danridge to lead them through conference play this season.

At the end of December, Danridge spearheaded a 71-68 upset over then-No. 8 Wichita State. His 17 points on shooting 7-of-12 shooting against the Shockers marked a career high for the 6-foot-5 guard as New Mexico beat its first Top 10 opponent since Dec. 21, 1999-a 70-68 victory over No. 2 Arizona.

"New Mexico presents all sorts of problems because they have that ability to extend the defense, and they put a lot of stress on you to make your big guys come out and guard on the perimeter," Fischer commented. "And then they can attack off the dribble and get to the free-throw line.

"[UNLV coach] Ritchie McKay has done an excellent job with his New Mexico teams in having a framework and adjusting to the players that he has in the program."

In the first week of February, Danridge earned his second weekly honor as Mountain West Conference Player of the Week of the season and his career with solid contributions against Wyoming and Colorado State.

The San Bernardino, Calif. native scored 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting and had three rebounds in the Lobos' 91-83 home victory over Wyoming followed by a career-high 24 points, five rebounds and two steals in New Mexico's first road win of the season at Colorado State, 70-66.

"Every team in this league has a home-court advantage in this league," McKay said. "It's the percentage of wins that you get on your home floor, and all of them are very good."

San Diego State: Coach Steve Fischer has earned his 300^th career victory in his eighth year with San Diego State, but he's looking to make this the year the Aztecs get back into the NCAA Tournament.

It helps when you have Brandon Heath, who has held the longest current double-figure scoring streak in the conference this season.

The 6-foot-4 guard from Los Angeles, Calif. became the conference's all-time leading scorer by leading San Diego State to non-conference home victories over Campbell (119-82) and Loyola Marymount (76-63) in December.

The senior, who already holds the all-time record for all-time field goal attempts and steals, surpassed the scoring record, eclipsing the previous mark of 1,782 set by New Mexico's Ruben Douglas (2000-03) when Heath nailed a long 3-pointer with 11:51 remaining in the Aztecs' win over LMU.

Heath, one of two conference players among 50 preseason candidates for the 2006-07 Wooden Award All-American Team, collected a game-high 19 points against Campbell and showed even greater scoring ability against the Lions, stroking 7-of-8 field goals in the second half to lead all scorers with 25 points in addition to four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

In the Aztecs' win over TCU, Heath became the league's all-time leader in made field goals at 670, passing former UNLV sharpshooter Dalron Johnson (1999-03)

TCU: Junior Brent Hackett has developed as an offensive threat for the Horned Frogs, notching a game-high 20 points and adding a career-best seven rebounds in a 64-52 home win over New Mexico.

Hackett proved to be deadly from three-point land, connecting on 4-of-7 attempts, while finishing 6-for-10 from the field.

The 6-foot-2 guard from Fort Worth, Texas carried the Horned Frogs to their first-ever road win in Mountain West Conference play at Utah, pouring in 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting and recording two rebounds and two assists.

"TCU, particularly in the state of Texas, has become a popular choice now," TCU coach Neil Dougherty said. "When you're trying to renew a program, every one has different issues. And those issues have to be resolved before you can become stable. You can put certain time tables on it. We're trying to take our time and do things the right way."

Hackett demonstrated his range from the perimeter, stroking 5-of-8 three-pointers against the Utes.

UNLV: The Rebels have a legitimate shot at making it into the field of 64 for the first time since 2000.

It sure has been awhile since UNLV last won in the NCAA Tournament after reaching the Final Four in 1991.

With the conference tournament returning to Las Vegas after spending the last three years in Denver, UNLV coach

The Rebels have started to show progress since conference play has begun, including an 83-75 victory at home over BYU on Jan. 13. The win snapped the Cougar's seven-game winning streak as Wink Adams paced UNLV with 27 points.

Wendell White contributed 21 points and 10 rebounds, scoring five points as part of an 18-6 run that gave the Rebels a 54-47 lead with 11:45 remaining in the second half.

Gaston Essenque and Corey Bailey also added 10 points apiece for UNLV, who improved to 10-1 at home.

Utah: The Utes have been unpredictable this season, and may be on the outside looking in come Selection Day in March, but sophomore Luke Nevill has grown since conference play began.

The 7-foot-1 center from Perth, Australia shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the field to post a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds in Utah's 85-79 upset over then-No. 11 Air Force.

When Wyoming came to town, Nevill showed up once again with a strong performance of 14 points and eight rebounds in the Utes' 62-60 victory over the Cowboys.

"Right now we have more battles than just trying to win games," Utah coach Ray Giacoletti admitted. "We're battling to try and get better and staying positive through tough periods.

"The only way to get confidence and understand how to win games is to win. Winning's a habit, and losing's a habit. And the only way to break that habit is to go get a win...You're just trying to find a way to get better. I don't know what the answers are, but when things aren't going well, you try to find something else that helps."

Wyoming: In his ninth year in Laramie, coach Steve McClain earned his 150^th career victory after pulling out a 66-65 victory at San Diego State on Jan. 3.

And Brandon Ewing has been front and center for McClain's Cowboys.

The 6-foot-1 guard from Chicago, Ill. took over in the Pokes' 86-76 overtime victory against UNLV, hitting 19-of-22 free throws to finish with 30 points along with four assists and three rebounds. The 19 makes from the charity stripe set a new conference record for free throws made in a game by a sophomore while marking the second highest free-throw total ever in Mountain West play and the third highest in conference history.

"Brandon really had to take over a leadership role as a freshman a year ago and did a great job for us toward the end of the season," McClain said.

Ewing was impressive as well against nationally-ranked Air Force, posting a 15-point effort on 4-of-8 shooting from the field in the 58-56 loss to the Falcons.

With Ewing's spectacular play in the backcourt, the Cowboys are a contender in the Mountain West.

They've certainly made Jeff Bzdelik a believer. The Air Force coach said that Wyoming is just as capable of winning the Mountain West as any other team in the conference.

"Steve does an outstanding job," Bzdelik said of McClain and his squad. "His teams are so well prepared and so good defensively...Ewing, in particular, is an unbelievable talent and can make the perimeter shot. He can create fouls and get to the line at a frequent rate."

However, Ewing was forced to serve an automatic one-game suspension after being ejected for fighting during the Cowboys' contest with New Mexico on Jan. 30. The incident started when Ewing committed a flagrant technical foul at the 1:10 mark in the second half of the game and quickly escalated into a brawl between both sides.

Teammate Brad Jones was also required to sit out Wyoming's Feb. 3 matchup against Air Force and will not be allowed to play against the Lobos when the two schools meet again on March 3.

"We believe we can be right with every team in this conference this year," McClain said. "It doesn't matter who you're playing, it's going to be a battle."