Aztecs back in MW title game; USF rolls into WCC quarters
Malachi Flynn had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, KJ Feagin added 21 points and six rebounds and No. 5 San Diego State beat Boise State 81-68 on Friday night to advance to the Mountain West Tournament championship game for the third straight year.
The top-seeded Aztecs (30-1) made 15 3-pointers and shot 49.1 percent from the field. They will face the Utah State-Wyoming winner in the championship game.
San Diego State trailed by 16 points with five minutes remaining in the first half, then outscored the Broncos 64-31 over the final 25 minutes on the way to its third double-digit victory over Boise State (20-12) this season.
Alex Hobbs led the Broncos with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting. RJ Williams and Derrick Alston each had 12 points..
The first half featured a series of runs by both teams, with the Aztecs sinking their first three 3-point attempts to open a 9-2 lead. Boise State took control from there, scoring 26 of the next 31 points, which was part of 35-12 run that gave the Broncos a 37-21 lead with five minutes to remaining in the half.
That’s when San Diego State woke up — on both ends of the court. The Aztecs closed the half on a 19-2 tear to tie it at 40, with guard Jordan Schakel’s 3-pointer in the waning seconds capping the run. San Diego State made six of its final seven shots and held the Broncos without a field goal over the final five minutes.
Both teams were sensational from 3-point range in the first half, combining to go 15-for-29, with San Diego State making 10 of 20.
San Diego State remains the nation’s only unbeaten team in road or neutralsite games (16-0). Every other team has at least two such defeats.
West Coast Conference
USF 82, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 53 >> Charles Minlend scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half as USF grabbed the lead early and kept going, eliminating Loyola marymount from the second round of the West Coast Conference tournament.
Fifth-seeded USF (21-11) faces No. 4 seed Pacific in a quarterfinal Saturday, with the winner facing No. 2 ranked and top-seeded Gonzaga in a Monday semifinal.
The Dons, who led 39-26 at the break, led by double figures the entire second half and defeated the No. 8 seeded Lions twice in a week.
They have won four in a row overall. USF held LMU to 38.3 percent shooting and forcing 14 turnovers.
Four Dons scored in double figures, with Jimbo Lull and Jordan Ratiho both scoring 12 (Lull also had 10 rebounds) and Khalili Shabazz scoring 10.
SANTA CLARA 76, PORTLAND 62 (LATE THURSDAY NIGHT) >> DJ Mitchell scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting to lift the No. 7 seed Broncos past No. 10 seed in the opening round of the WCC Tournament. The Broncos (20-12) advanced to face sixth-seeded Pepperdine in the second round on Friday night in a game that was in progress at the deadine for this publication.
Santa Clara led from the opening basket and went into halftime with a 42-23 lead. The Pilots (9-23) got the deficit to 7260 but couldn’t get closer.
Tahj Eaddy and Trey Wertz added 13 points each and Jaden Bediako scored 10 for the Broncos.
Around the nation
EMPTY GYM >> In what was believed to be the first U.S. sports event held without fans because of the new coronavirus, a Division III men’s basketball NCAA Tournament game was played Friday at an empty gym at Johns Hopkins University.
Yeshiva University tipped off against Worcester Polytechnic Institute just after 2 p.m. in an arena occupied only by players, referees, employees and media members. The national anthem and starting lineups went on as normal with players giving each other fist pounds instead of handshakes.
When the first-round game got underway, players on each team chanted “Defense!” and cheered to make up for the lack of fans in the 1,100-seat Goldfarb Gymnasium. Yeshiva coach Elliot Steinmetz, who shook WPI coach Chris Bartley’s hand, expected it to be awkward.
“This is definitely the first time we’ve had that situation where there’s no fans in the gym,” Steinmetz said.
As students walked by the athletics facility, there were police officers outside and signs on doors reading, “No spectators.” Music blared over the speakers inside and some pre-planned fan announcements, including one promoting social media sharing — “Tell the world you’re here” — went on with no fans to hear them.
Johns Hopkins University said it was “prudent to hold this tournament without spectators” after Maryland’s recently confirmed three COVID-19 cases.