Colorado State still in hunt for MW title

The Mountain West men’s basketball title really is up for grabs.

And CSU, as coach Larry Eustachy and his players have been saying, remains in the thick of the race following losses over the weekend by co-leaders San Diego State (18-6, 8-3) and Wyoming (19-5, 8-3). Both are just one game ahead of the Rams (20-4, 7-4) with seven regular-season games remaining.

The Rams clearly have their sights set on winning the conference title, something no Colorado State University team has done in the MW. But they can’t get caught up in that right now, Eustachy said.

Especially not with one of the three teams they’ve lost to, New Mexico (14-9, 6-5), coming to Moby Arena for a rematch at 9 p.m. Tuesday night. The Rams have lost five straight to the Lobos, including a 66-53 defeat Jan. 3 at The Pit in Albuquerque.

“We’re just trying to take it a play at a time, a day at a time,” Eustachy said Monday. “… You’ve got to stay in the moment.”

It’s hard not to look ahead, though. And not just to a Saturday night game at San Diego State, a team the Rams defeated 79-73 on Jan. 24 at Moby Arena, but to the MW tournament March 11-14 in Las Vegas and the NCAA tournament.

CSU was one of two MW teams — San Diego State was the other — expected to make the NCAA tournament Monday in three of the most prominent projections of the 68-team bracket. The Rams were listed as a No. 10 seed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and as a No. 9 seed by CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and USA Today’s Shelby Mast. CSU made the tournament in 62 of 65 projections listed on the bracket matrix website, BracketMatrix.com, with an average seed of 9.4.

“We’re just trying to be the best team that we can possibly be by the end of this season,” CSU senior J.J. Avila said. “By doing that, we just keep winning, and then we’ll just go higher and higher in the brackets, and then we’ll be the best team going in there.

“I know this team can do some damage whenever we’re rolling.”

CSU received nine points this week in voting for the USA Today Coaches’ Poll’s top 25 and no votes in the Associated Press poll. But the Rams had the top ranking among MW teams in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index at No. 27 Monday, three spots ahead of San Diego State. Boise State was No. 40.

All three teams are worthy of NCAA bids, Eustachy said, as is Wyoming when star forward Larry Nance Jr. is healthy. He missed Saturday’s loss at Air Force with mononucleosis.

But there’s a good chance the conference will only get two teams in this year — the winner of the conference tournament with an automatic bid and one other. And that makes winning a regular-season title and getting the top seed in the conference tournament more important than ever.

With five of its remaining seven games against teams in the bottom half of the conference standings, CSU has as good a chance right now of winning it as anyone. San Diego State still has games remaining against CSU, Wyoming and Boise State; Wyoming still has to play at San Diego State and New Mexico; and Boise State still has to play Fresno State twice and San Diego State and New Mexico once each.

It’s going to come down to mental toughness, Eustachy said. The Rams need to give everything they have in every game they have left on their schedule. Do that, he said, and everything else will work out just fine.

“Anyone can win the league, anyone can beat anyone any given night,” CSU senior Daniel Bejarano said. “… We’ve just got to keep our minds on the Mountain West championship. We’ve just got to stay together. Everyone has to be ready every single night. We’re going to need everyone on their ‘A’ game.”

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news

• Next up: New Mexico at CSU, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Moby Arena

• Watch: ESPNU

• Listen: ESPN (FM 105.5)

• Twitter updates: @KellyLyell, @MattStephens

Projected starters

New Mexico (14-9, 6-5 MW)

No. Player PPG RBPG 3 Hugh Greenwood 11.7 5.3 20 Sam Logwood 5.4 2.5 33 Deshawn Delaney 12.3 5.5 12 Devin Williams 6.7 3.2 1 Obij Aget 6.3 4.9

CSU (20-4, 7-4 MW)

No. Player PPG RBPG 2 Daniel Bejarano 11.0 6.9 10 Joe De Ciman 7.4 3.1 11 Stanton Kidd 12.0 4.9 15 Tiel Daniels 5.7 4.6 31 J.J. Avila 15.6 7.9

Note to readers

Visit Coloradoan.com after the game for complete coverage of Tuesday night’s New Mexico-CSU men’s basketball game. The game will end after the print deadline for Wednesday’s newspaper.

MW title contenders

Remaining games

• San Diego State (18-6, 8-3) — Home: Wyoming, CSU, Boise State, Nevada. Away: New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV.

• Wyoming (19-5, 8-3) — Home: San Jose State, Fresno State, Utah State. Away: San Diego State, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico

• Boise State (17-6, 7-3) — Home: Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico. Away: Fresno State, UNLV, San Diego State, San Jose State

• CSU (20-4, 7-4) — Home: New Mexico, Air Force, San Jose State. Away: San Diego State, Fresno State, Nevada, Utah State

• Fresno State (11-12, 6-4) — Home: Boise State, CSU, New Mexico, Air Force. Away: Utah State, Wyoming, Boise State.

• New Mexico (14-9, 6-5) — Home: San Diego State, UNLV, Wyoming. Away: CSU, Nevada, Boise State, Fresno State

• Utah State (13-10, 6-5) — Home: Nevada, Fresno State, UNLV, CSU. Away: San Jose State, Air Force, Wyoming.

MW men’s basketball standings

School Conf. Overall Wyoming 8-3 19-5 San Diego State 8-3 18-6 Boise State 7-3 17-6 CSU 7-4 20-4 Fresno State 6-4 11-12 New Mexico 6-5 14-9 Utah State 6-5 13-10 UNLV 4-6 13-10 Air Force 4-8 11-12 Nevada 3-7 7-15 San Jose State 0-11 2-21

Tuesday’s games

New Mexico at CSU, 9 p.m.

Nevada at Utah State, 7 p.m.

Fresno State at UNLV, 8 p.m.

Wednesday’s games

Air Force at Boise State, 7 p.m.

Wyoming at San Diego State, 9 p.m.