By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
The Mountain West continues to be loaded with depth, and it makes for great matchups week in and week out.
But unless the league starts to get some teams in the middle to separate themselves, matching the six NCAA bids from a season ago will be unlikely.
Looking at the last week in the MW, some things have remained the same for the year.
Among them, New Mexico and Utah State are still atop the standings, with just one loss in conference play.
Lobos and Aggies Set to Break One-Loss Tie at the Top
The Lobos have a slight edge at 9-1 while the Aggies sit a half-game behind with eight wins.
The Aggies will look to draw even with UNLV heading to Logan for a Wednesday night matchup.
Should the Aggies hold serve and improve to 5-0 at home in conference play it will set up a Saturday evening showdown for the conference lead when the Lobos come to town.
If USU knocks off a Rebel team that has suddenly lost two in a row, then both conference leaders will be riding three-game win streaks into the meeting at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Arena.
The Aggies’ lone loss this season came on January 15 in Vegas to UNLV. At 18-2 on the season, USU is one of just seven teams nationally with two losses or fewer.
We highlighted the Rebels last week as they were heating up with wins over Utah State and San Diego State.
UNLV promptly lost two in a row to slip to 5-4 in MW play and are now solidly in a log jam in the middle of the conference.
Free Throws, Nique Clifford Key Colorado State’s Rise
One team that has managed to stay above the fray in the middle of the conference is Colorado State.
With their win Tuesday night over Air Force the Rams find themselves the winners of four in a row and 8-2 in MW action.
Colorado State doesn’t play another game until next Wednesday when they travel to Albuquerque for a showdown with the Lobos in a game that should be for the conference lead.
The Rams are getting it done at the foul stripe this season, ranking 18th in the nation at 78 percent on free throw attempts. Nico Medved’s group is not losing points at the line.
Another big reason for CSU’s success is the play of one of the best players in the nation, who nobody is talking about: Nique Clifford.
The senior is averaging 8.24 defensive rebounds per game, the fourth most in the nation and the most of any guard nationally.
Clifford is one of just two guards in the nation at 6-6 or shorter averaging at least seven defensive rebounds per outing.
The other guard is Northwestern’s Brooks Barnhizer, who stands at the same height as Clifford, and is pulling down 7.38 defensive rebounds per game.
During the Rams’ current four-game winning streak Clifford is averaging 22.3 points, 9.3 rebounds. 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Player of the Week: Donovan Dent, G, New Mexico
In the Lobos win over UNLV last weekend Dent went off for 34 points, accounting for 45% of New Mexico’s offense.
He also chipped in a pair of assists and a rebound in the win.
Freshman of the Week: Magoon Gwath, F, San Diego State
In the Aztecs’ three wins last week, Gwath averaged 16 points and nine rebounds per game.
He connnected on 65.8 percent of attempts from the floor.
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
