The third time was the charm for the San Diego St. Aztecs. Falling twice to the BYU Cougars in the regular season, the Aztecs defeated the Cougars, 72-54, to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship. They previously beat the Utah Utes and the UNLV Runnin' Rebels to make the finals.
Despite 30 points, BYU's Jimmer Fredette had a tough night shooting. He made only nine buckets in 23 shots. Eight of those shots were three-pointers, and he had one disallowed at the end of the first half after replay showed he got the shot off after the buzzer went off (but it was a nice shot with two defenders all over him).
The entire BYU team shot only 33.3 percent from the field, while San Diego St. hit 45.2 percent of their shots. Billy White led the way with 21 points, 12 rebounds and five steals. Kawhi Leonard added 20 points and eight rebounds.
San Diego State now has the conference's automatic bid to the tournament and a strong case for no lower than a No. 2 seed. BYU may need to settle for a No. 3 seed. Selection Sunday begins at 4:00 p.m. MT.