Mountain West Rankings: There are no easy conference games

Brian Dutcher wants everyone to know about how difficult it is to win games in the Mountain West.
“There are no easy games,” the San Diego State Aztecs coach said. “This conference is unforgiving.”
The Aztecs, No. 1 in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West rankings, might be the most unforgiving team in the conference. San Diego State whipped No. 5 Utah State, 85-75, and No. 7 San Jose State, 72-51, last week to improve to 17-4 overall and 8-1 in conference.
“It’s all about energy and effort,” said the Aztecs’ Keshad Johnson, who had 27 points and 18 rebounds in the two games combined. “We give our full energy in every game.”
Adam Seiko, a 6-foot-3 senior, gave all his energy against Utah State with a career-high 25 points in 27 minutes off the bench, connecting on 7-of-9 3-pointers.
“The guys are always telling me, ‘Let it rip, let it fly,’” said Seiko, who had just three points in 25 minutes three nights later against San Jose State and has scored under 10 points in 15 games this year. “It took me a while this year to get comfortable but as the season goes on I’m getting more comfortable.”
“You know he can do it,” Johnson said. “But when it happens it is alien-like.”
No. 2 New Mexico (19-3, 6-3) lost in double overtime at Nevada, 97-94, and beat Air Force, 81-73, last week.
Jamal Mashburn had 24 points, Jaelen House had 19 and Morris Udeze had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks against Air Force.
“The building was amazing,” Lobos coach Richard Pitino said, referring to the crowd of 15,143 at The Pit for the Air Force game. “It’s getting to the point where I sound like a broken record about how much I appreciate our fans. The last thing I want to do is let these fans down.
“I chose this job because of The Pit and the fans. Our players came here because of The Pit and the fans.”
Pitino said the emotional loss at Nevada earlier in the week didn’t cause his team to lose confidence.
“I try not to put too much value in the final score,” Pitino said. “I look at the whole 50 minutes of that game. Did we play hard? Of course. Did we do a lot of good things? Absolutely. When you lose by three you don’t need to tear everything down. We could have won. There were a lot of things we did well and a lot of things we didn’t do well. Just move on.”
No. 4 Nevada (16-6, 6-3) improved to 10-0 at home with the win over New Mexico but then lost at UNLV five nights later, 68-62.
“That game (against New Mexico) was fun to be a part of, fun to watch,” Wolf Pack coach Steve Alford said. “It was one of those games where it was too bad somebody had to lose. But teams gave incredible effort. For us to find a way to win speaks volumes about our guys.”
The Wolf Pack hosts No. 1 San Diego State on Tuesday and No. 8 Air Force (12-10, 3-6) on Friday at Lawlor Events Center. Air Force lost twice last week (82-52 at San Jose State and 81-73 at New Mexico). The Falcons also have a difficult test at home on Tuesday against Boise State before heading to Reno.
No. 3 Boise State (17-5, 7-2) beat Fresno State, 63-53, and Colorado State, 80-59, last week. Boise’s five starters scored all of the 63 points against Fresno State, led by Marcus Shaver (16 points). The Broncos bench then scored just three points against Colorado State as starter Tyson Degenhart had 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting.
“They (the Boise players) are getting more and more efficient and getting better at making each other better,” Broncos coach Leon Rice said. “They are hungry to get better.”
The loss to Boise State was the only game last week for No. 9 Colorado State (10-12, 2-7).
“We’ve seen all the teams now and they (Boise State) play as well as anybody,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved said. “I expect them to be there (in the Mountain West tournament title game) at the end.
“They have real good chemistry. They play with a lot of confidence and they are really well connected on offense.”
No. 5 Utah State (17-5, 6-3) rebounded from its loss to San Diego State by beating Fresno State, 70-53, three nights later. Dan Akin had 23 points and eight rebounds against Fresno State.
No. 10 Fresno State (7-13, 3-6) scored just 53 points in each of its losses last week to Boise State and Utah State. The Bulldogs were just 2-of-25 on threes against Boise State and missed 36-of-55 shots against Utah State.
“We have to score more than 53 points,” Fresno State coach Justin Hutson said. “That’s the bottom line.”
The Bulldogs are averaging just 60.6 points a game, last in the 11-team Mountain West.
“We have to share the ball side to side to get a piece of the paint,” Hutson said. “When we do that we are really good.”
No. 6 UNLV (14-7, 3-6) won twice last week, beating Wyoming, 86-72, and Nevada, 68-62, at home. Elijah Harkless had 28 points on 11-of-11 free throw shooting against Wyoming and had 18 points, nine rebounds against Nevada.
“They competed like crazy,” said UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger of his Rebels against Nevada. “They were scrapping and fighting like this group has been known for.”
UNLV forced Nevada into 19 turnovers.
“This was our first game in a while where you just could feel the confidence defensively,” Kruger said. “If they (Nevada) were going to get a bucket, they were going to earn it. When you have confidence and swagger like that you can do a lot of great things defensively.”
The Rebels held Nevada center Will Baker to just two points in 19 minutes. The 6-11 Baker averaged 21 points a game in his previous three games.
“We realized early in the game that they (Nevada) weren’t going to run with us in transition,” UNLV’s Justin Webster said. “So it was our job to get Baker and make him run the floor and get him tired.”
A crowd of just 4,539 saw the Rebels beat Wyoming but that was almost doubled against Nevada (8,734).
“It had that buzz of a rivalry game,” Kruger said. “There’s no doubt having that crowd was a huge reason why we had that confidence.”
No. 7 San Jose State (13-9, 4-5) beat Air Force, 82-52, at home and lost at San Diego State, 72-51, last week. Omari Moore had 26 points and Robert Vaihola had 18 against Air Force while Vaihola had 12 and Moore had 11 against San Diego State. The Spartans missed 15-of-19 threes against San Diego State.
No. 11 Wyoming (6-14, 1-7) lost at UNLV, 86-72, in its only game last week.
“For whatever reason this team struggles to play with an effort level that is required to win at this level,” Wyoming coach Jeff Linder said of his team. “You are talking about one of the better leagues in the country. We are not talented enough to where we can just show up and play. You have to play with a level of desperation and urgency and make the other team feel uncomfortable.”

The Nevada Appeal’s Mountain West men’s basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 30 …
1. SAN DIEGO STATE (17-4, 8-1): Last week: San Diego State 85, Utah State 75 (Jan. 25); San Diego State 72, San Jose State 51 (Jan. 28). This week: San Diego State at Nevada (Jan. 31); Boise State at San Diego State (Feb. 3).
2. NEW MEXICO (19-3, 6-3): Last week: Nevada 97, New Mexico 94, 2 OT (Jan. 23), New Mexico 81, Air Force 73 (Jan. 27). This week: New Mexico at Utah State (Feb. 1).
3. BOISE STATE (17-5, 7-2): Last week: Boise State 63, Fresno State 53 (Jan. 24); Boise State 80, Colorado State 59 (Jan. 28). This week: Boise State at Air Force (Jan. 31); Boise State at San Diego State (Feb. 3).
4. NEVADA (16-6, 6-3): Last week: Nevada 97, New Mexico 94, 2OT (Jan. 23); UNLV 68, Nevada 62 (Jan. 28). This week: San Diego State at Nevada (Jan. 31); Air Force at Nevada (Feb. 3).
5. UTAH STATE (17-5, 6-3): Last week: San Diego State 85, Utah State 75 (Jan. 25); Utah State 70, Fresno State 53 (Jan. 28). This week: New Mexico at Utah State (Feb. 1); Utah State at Colorado State (Feb. 4).
6. UNLV (14-7, 3-6): Last week: UNLV 86, Wyoming 72 (Jan. 24); UNLV 68, Nevada 62 (Jan. 28). This week: UNLV at Colorado State (Jan. 31); Fresno State at UNLV (Feb. 3).
7. SAN JOSE STATE (13-9, 4-5): Last week: San Jose State 82, Air Force 52 (Jan. 24); San Diego State 72, San Jose State 51 (Jan. 28). This week: Wyoming at San Jose State (Feb. 4).
8. AIR FORCE (12-10, 3-6): Last week: San Jose State 82, Air Force 52 (Jan. 24); New Mexico 81, Air Force 73 (Jan. 27). This week: Boise State at Air Force (Jan. 31); Air Force at Nevada (Feb. 3).
9. COLORADO STATE (10-12, 2-7): Last week: Boise State 80, Colorado State 59 (Jan. 28). This week: UNLV at Colorado State (Jan. 31); Utah State at Colorado State (Feb. 4).
10. FRESNO STATE (7-13, 3-6): Last week: Boise State 63, Fresno State 53 (Jan. 24); Utah State 70, Fresno State 53 (Jan. 28). This week: Fresno State at Wyoming (Jan. 31); Fresno State at UNLV (Feb. 3).
11. WYOMING (6-14, 1-7): Last week: UNLV 86, Wyoming 72 (Jan. 24). This week: Fresno State at Wyoming (Jan. 31); Wyoming at San Jose State (Feb. 4).