Mountain West Notebook: Red-hot Utah State next for Nevada Wolf Pack

Next up for the Nevada Wolf Pack is the red-hot Utah State Aggies and star guard Koby McEwen.

McEwen, a sophomore, was named the Mountain West Player of the Week after leading the Aggies to wins over Fresno State (81-79 in OT) on Wednesday and UNLV (85-78) at Thomas & Mack on Saturday.

McEwen averaged 24.5 for the week, tying a career high with 28 points against Fresno State on 10-for-18 shooting, and adding 21 against UNLV. He shot 47.1 percent from the field.

McEwen was chosen to the all-MW preseason squad.

REBELS STRUGGLING

The loss to Utah State dropped UNLV to 1-2 in conference, and it snapped the Rebels’ five-game winning streak over the Aggies in Las Vegas. The Aggies are now 6-32 against UNLV, including a 2-18 record in Sin City.

“Not winning at home is a painful thing,” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “This is not what we planned on and when things don’t go your way you need to figure out how to right the ship. It’s early in the conference journey, so still very optimistic.”

COWBOYS REBOUND

Wyoming rebounded from its loss to Nevada to knock off Boise State, 79-78, in overtime on Saturday in Laramie.

What was impressive about the Wyoming win was the fact Alan Herndon fouled out and Justin James went down with an injury during overtime. The win snapped a four-game skid against the Broncos, and extended Wyoming’s win streak in overtime to three. All three extra-period wins have been at home.

The Broncos’ Chandler Hutchison had a chance to win the game in regulation, but his lay-up went in and out.

Wyoming outscored Boise State, 43-27, in the second half after BSU led 43-27 at the half.

“What I said to them was I was just disappointed in our first-half effort, and I think they felt hurt,” Wyoming coach Allen Edwards said. “We talked about being more aggressive and assertive on defense and on offense, and I thought we had a much better second half because of it.”

After being shackled by Nevada, Hayden Dalton scored 29 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

’DOGS FINISH STRONG

Fresno State used a fast start and an equally fast finish to get a road win at Colorado State on Saturday, sending the Rams to 1-3 in conference.

“We never make it easy, right?” Fresno State coach Rodney Terry told reporters after the win. “It is always a battle. I just think a couple of nights ago (against Utah State) we just didn’t finish the game obviously.”

“Tonight, I felt that everybody wanted to make sure we didn’t go back home 0-2 (for the road trip),” guard Deshon Taylor said.

Fresno State has won 19 and lost just 6 following a defeat.

AZTEC YOUNGSTER ON A ROLL

San Diego State’s Jalen McDaniels, a redshirt freshman recorded his third double-double of the season when he scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in last Tuesday’s win over Colorado State.

“I think you can see that (his comfort level) when he is on the floor,” said SDSU coach Brian Dutcher. “He doesn’t play nervous. He plays with great confidence and swagger, and that’s what I want from him.”

“I feel like my teammates were finding me and putting me in the right spots, and I was just executing the plays,” McDaniels said after the win.

BRACKETOLOGY REPORT

If the season had ended, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Pack at No. 8 with a first-round match-up against SMU in San Diego. The winner would play Arizona State.

The CBSSports.com site has Nevada as a No. 11 seed playing Gonzaga in Nashville.