Back-to-Back MWC Champs! Aztecs Topple CougarsSDSU's Billy Billy White (6'8''-F-89) had 21 points, 12 rebounds and five steals. LAS VEGAS (AP)- Brandon Brandon Davies (6'9''-F)' asbsence might not have made much difference. Not as passionate and poised as No. 7 San Diego State played in its third meeting with No. 8 BYU. Senior Billy White put on an offensive display that was equally as impressive as his defense that helped bedevil national scoring leader Jimmer Fredette (6'2''-G) in leading the Aztecs past the top-seeded Cougars 72-54 Saturday night for the Mountain West Conference title. Second-seeded San Diego State (32-2), whose only two losses were against the Cougars (30-4), finally figured out how to topple top-seeded BYU, which was playing its fifth game without Brandon Davies, the Cougars' best post player, who was suspended last week for violating the school's honor code. Without him, the Cougars sport a smaller lineup that was no match for the longer, deeper, faster Aztecs. 'It's a big factor. He's a key player on that team,' Billy White said. 'We took advantage of that and crashed the boards, just played San Diego State basketball. We knew if we just tried to contain Jimmer and tried to make everybody else shoot, we knew that we had the game.' Without Brandon Davies, the Cougars were outscored 38-14 in the paint, and they shot just 32 percent. 'The thing with Brandon Davies is we moved on,' BYU senior Jackson Emery said. 'That was last week. We're a different team now. We're not going to make excuses anymore. We're a different team. We have a lot of confidence in the guys we have. We believe we could have beaten them with these guys. We're not going to put anything on not having Brandon.' Despite 30 points from a late-charging Jimmer Fredette, the Cougars fell to 3-2 without Brandon Davies, posing an intriguing conundrum for the NCAA selection committee, although their loss to the athletic Aztecs eliminated all hope of the No. 1 seed the Cougars envisioned two weeks ago after climbing to third in the rankings. The Aztecs? They will likely be a No. 2 seed, but maybe they deserve top billing. They avenged their only losses of the season Saturday and they're 31-0 against all others. Either way, the Aztecs, who also won last year's conference tournament, have all the ingredients for a deep run in the NCAA tournament: a deep, experienced roster, a grizzled coach in Steve Fisher , savvy floor leadership behind D.J. Gay (6'0''-G-89) and star power with Billy White, Kawhi Leonard (6'7''-F-91) and Malcolm Thomas (6'9''-F) running up and down the floor for rim-rattling baskets and muscle tip-ins. 'We know that we're good. How good we still don't know,' Fisher insisted. 'But we had a thought that if we came and competed, we would have a chance to back-to-back cut down nets. That doesn't happen often. It doesn't happen unless you have talented players with character that will give to get.' Jimmer Fredette, who had a career-high 52 points against New Mexico on Friday night, was 10 for 25 from the floor after sinking 22 shots against the Lobos. 'They played good defense,' Jimmer Fredette said. 'They're long, they're athletic. They caused us some problems. But at the end, you know, we just didn't really make shots that sometimes we normally make to keep us in the game.' When teams send three defenders at Jimmer Fredette, his cohorts have to make shots, BYU coach Dave Rose said, 'especially against San Diego State, because when you turn into a driving team and you try to get to the rim, that's where they're terrific. They've got size. They've got length. They've got athleticism. They make you change your shot at the rim.' Although they were regular season co-champs, the Cougars swept the Aztecs, winning by 13 points both times-but that was with Brandon Davies manning the middle. This time, he was watching from the end of the bench in street clothes. Fisher insisted his strategy, however, wasn't that much different. He said he just emphasized better play against BYU's zone, and Billy White came through in a big way. 'Obviously, a 6-8, 6-9 really good player no longer there affects you. But we played well. We played very good basketball at both ends,' Fisher said. The Aztecs took a 43-31 halftime lead and outscored the Cougars 17-6 over the first 10 minutes of the second half to make it 60-37. 'I'm really impressed with San Diego State,' Rose said. 'I thought that they just played with a lot of passion, a lot of emotion. They caused us a lot of problems.' The Cougars had one last run left in them, a 15-2 spurt led by Jimmer Fredette that made it 62-52 with just under 5 minutes left. They had a chance to cut it to single digits but James Anderson (6'10''-F/C), one of the seldom-used big men Cougars inserted into the lineup to counter the Aztecs' superior size, missed a jump hook, and Kawhi Leonard's tip-in at the other end started a 10-2 San Diego State run to end the game. Jimmer Fredette was chosen the tournament's Most Valuable Player, something Kawhi Leonard insisted didn't bother him. 'I just thought it would go to the winning team,' Kawhi Leonard said. 'But, you know, he played a great tournament, so I'm not doubting him at all. I don't know what he averaged, but he had 52 in the semifinal game. That deserved the MVP.' Courtesy of Mountain West MWC Regular Season Standings MWC Tournament Final: San Diego State - BYU 72-54 MWC Tournament Semifinals: BYU - New Mexico 87-76 San Diego State - UNLV 74-72 All-MWC Awards 2010-11
Player of the Year: Jimmer Fredette (6'2''-G) of BYU All-Tournament MVP: Jimmer Fredette (6'2''-G) of BYU Defensive Player of the Year: Jackson Emery (6'3''-G-87) of BYU Freshman of the Year: Kendall Williams (6'3''-G) of N.Mexico Newcomer of the Year: Drew Gordon (6'9''-F-90) of N.Mexico Sixth Man of the Year: Pierce Hornung (6'5''-F) of Colorado St. Co-Coach of the Year: Dave Rose of BYU Co-Coach of the Year: Steve Fisher of San Diego St. 1st Team G: Jimmer Fredette (6'2'') of BYU F: Andy Ogide (6'9''-87) of Colorado St. PG: Dairese Gary (6'1''-88) of N.Mexico G: D.J. Gay (6'0''-89) of San Diego St. F: Kawhi Leonard (6'7''-91) of San Diego St. 2nd Team G: Jackson Emery (6'3''-87) of BYU F: Drew Gordon (6'9''-90) of N.Mexico F: Malcolm Thomas (6'9'') of San Diego St. G: Trevon Willis (6'4''-88) of UNLV G/F: Will Clyburn (6'7''-90) of Utah 3rd Team G: Michael Lyons (6'6'') of Air Force F: Brandon Davies (6'9'') of BYU G: Hank Thorns (5'9''-89) of TCU G: Oscar Bellfield (6'2''-90) of UNLV G/F: Chace Stanback (6'8''-89) of UNLV Honorable Mention Tom Fow (6'6''-F) of Air Force Evan Washington (6'4''-G) of Air Force Noah Hartsock (6'8''-F) of BYU Travis Franklin (6'7''-F-88) of Colorado St. Kendall Williams (6'3''-G) of N.Mexico Billy White (6'8''-F-89) of San Diego St. Josh Watkins (6'0''-G-89) of Utah Desmar Jackson (6'5''-G-90) of Wyoming Amath M'Baye (6'8''-F-89) of Wyoming All-Defensive Team Jackson Emery (6'3''-G-87) of BYU Dairese Gary (6'1''-PG-88) of N.Mexico Kawhi Leonard (6'7''-F-91) of San Diego St. Malcolm Thomas (6'9''-F) of San Diego St. David Foster (7'3''-C-88) of Utah All-Tournament Team Jimmer Fredette (6'2''-G) of BYU D.J. Gay (6'0''-G-89) of San Diego St. Kawhi Leonard (6'7''-F-91) of San Diego St. Billy White (6'8''-F-89) of San Diego St. Trevon Willis (6'4''-G-88) of UNLV | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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