Around the Mountain: Big weekend helps league trudge back from early setbacks

When one of your league title hopefuls loses on its home court to a Division II team from Hawaii and a couple other Mountain West teams lose to double-digit underdogs in the opening week, maybe there was nowhere to go but up.

Nevertheless, the league that stumbled out of the gates (to say the least) has quietly been putting together a respectable run of play that is, ever so slowly, repairing the computer-rating damage it did to itself earlier in the season.

And this past weekend, in particular, was about as good as it gets for the league with some wins that help the computer metrics, confidence and national perception.

• Boise State got a true road win at then-No. 41 (in KenPom.com) Butler of the Big East on Saturday in what was probably the best nonconference win in the entire league.
• New Mexico blew out then-No. 49 Santa Clara by 27 in the Pit on Saturday, a metrics-shifting win that saw the Lobos leap from 110 to 85 in KenPom.
• UNLV won at ACC’s Stanford on Sunday.
• Colorado State beat then-No. 65 Colorado of the Big 12 on Saturday in their in-state rivalry game
• After back-to-back wins over top 100 teams, Nevada won at the Pac-12’s Washington State on Sunday by 14, leading to a 12-point, one-game KenPom climb for the Wolf Pack.

None of it may be enough to continue the league’s four year streak of getting at least four teams into the NCAA Tournament (in fact, I’ll say for sure it won’t be), but the league is back to a fairly comfortable position of being the best of the rest — ranked No. 6 in all major computer rankings out of 31 conferences, behind only the sports Power 5 — ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East and SEC.

Kill shots galore!

I wrote a few weeks ago in this ATM space that the Mountain West had no killer instinct, referencing the leagues general lack of “kill shots” — 10-0 scoring runs, requiring both scoring and defensive stops — in the first three weeks of the season.

Well, things have changed.

While the league had a grand total of 14 “kill shots” in the first three weeks of play, over just the past two, it has had 30 in games against Division I teams, per EvanMiya.com. That site, like most analytics sites, does not consider data from games played against non-DI opponents. If it did, the Lobos would be at 10 on the list below as they have had three consecutive games with three kill shots, including last week’s blowout of D-II New Mexico Highlands.

Kill Shots vs. DI teams

Total kill shots on left, kill shots in last two weeks in parentheses

7 — Grand Canyon (1)

7 — New Mexico (6)

5 — San Diego State (5)

5 — Utah State (5)

4 — Air Force (1)

4 — Colorado State (4)

3 — Fresno State (3)

3 — San Jose State (3)

3 — Wyoming (0)

2 — Boise State (2)

1 — Nevada (0)

0 — UNLV (0)

As for the dreaded kill shots conceded, the Lobos are the last of the league’s teams to surrender one.

Kill Shots conceded vs. DI teams

0 — New Mexico

1 — Colorado State

1 — Nevada

2 — Boise State

3 — Fresno State

4 — Grand Canyon

4 — San Jose State

4 — Utah State

4 — Wyoming

5 — Air Force

5 — San Diego State

7 — UNLV

Players of the Week

Here are the week’s Mountain West player awards, as selected by the league office:

Player of the week: Josh Pascarelli, junior, guard, Colorado State — The 6-foot-3 transfer from Marist continues his scorching-hot shooting (53.0% from 3-point range on the season). In Saturday’s win over in-state rival Colorado, Pascarelli scored 26 points and hit 8-of-10 3-pointers.

Freshman of the week: Tomislav Buljan, forward, New Mexico — The double-double machine missed last Monday’s game against Division II New Mexico Highlands with a bad ankle, but returned for Saturday’s blowout victory over Santa Clara. Buljan had 16 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, a steal and drew seven fouls. He was 5-of-8 (62.5%) from the field and 6-of-8 (75.0%) from the free throw line.

Poll position

No Mountain West team received votes in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.

My five

Here are five Mountain West games I’m looking forward to this week, listed in order of when they are played:

New Mexico at VCU: Wednesday, 5 p.m. MT (Richmond, Virginia) — In the back end of a home-and-home series, the Lobos are coming off their best win of the season only to play the toughest game on the nonconference schedule (VCU is ranked No. 41 in KenPom, Nebraska is 42 and was a neutral court game and Santa Clara was 49 before Saturday, but the Lobos had them at home). The Rams under first-year head coach Phil Martelli Jr. are a top 20 ranked defense.

Stanford at San Jose State: Saturday, 5 p.m. MT — An ACC team, even one from across town, playing at the Event Center just doesn’t happen. This is a huge opportunity for Tim Miles and the Spartans. And the Cardinal just lost Sunday to UNLV in their other nonconference Mountain West game.

(NAIA) Northern New Mexico at Colorado State: 1 p.m. Sunday — No, this isn’t a must follow game for most around the league, but in this neck of the woods, there’s always some intrigue when a team that includes seven players from New Mexico high schools and is coached by former RMAC star and New Mexico native Michael Dominguez, in his first year after coaching at New Mexico Highlands.

Florida Gulf Coast at New Mexico: Sunday, 2 p.m. — The Lobos wrap up their nonconference schedule with a 17-game home win streak overall and 6-0 home record this season on the line. Depending on what happens Wednesday at VCU, the Lobos will be looking to close non-league play either 9-2 or 8-3 with a win over FGCU. Either record should probably be viewed as a win for a Lobo team that is one of only three Division I programs in the country (365 total) who doesn’t return one player or coach from last season’s team.

Saint Mary’s vs. Boise State: Sunday, 5 p.m. MT (in Idaho Falls, Idaho) — Saint Mary’s has been the best win of the season for the Broncos each of the past two seasons. Can Leon Rice and crew make it three in a row?