TST at the MWT: No. 2 Colorado State 69, No. 5 Boise State 56, final

LAS VEGAS – It's a first time title match up in the Credit 1 Mountain West Basketball Championships final when the second-seeded Colorado State Rams face the fifth-seeded Boise State Broncos with a ticket to the NCAA Tournament on the line at 3 p.m. the Thomas & Mack Center.

Both the Rams (24-9, 16-4) and Broncos (24-9, 14-6) entered the tournament in tenuous position to reach the field of 68, with Boise State currently occupying one of the last four in spots in ESPN and CBS Sports' bracket projections while Colorado State was in just one of the 107 bracket projections tracked by BracketMatrix as of March 14.

The final features teams ranked in the MW's top four offensively and top three defensively, with the Rams featuring the best field goal percentage (49.7%) and 3-point percentage (39.2%) powering their no. 3 offense (76.1 points per game) and no. 3 defense (65.9 points allowed per game) in Mountain West contests. Boise State had the no. 2 defense (65.7) and no. 4 offense (73.4), while posting the best rebounding margin (plus-7.0 per game) and third-most offensive rebounds (10.3) per game.

Nique Clifford has continued his all around impactful play for the Green and Gold, putting up 51 points on 15 of 27 shooting, with 25 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals through his first two tournament games. Kyan Evans has been the biggest supporting scorer, with 25 points while shooting 7 of 11 from beyond the arc. Broncos senior Tyson Degenhart set the program's career scoring record in the semifinals and has had 36 points and 11 rebounds through the Blue's two games. Alvaro Cardenas has dealt 16 assists, while RJ Keene II has 19 rebounds and Andrew Meadow has been plus-26 when on the floor for the Broncos.

The Rams swept the season series, winning the meeting at Moby Arena 75-72 on January 22 as Clifford had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and the Rams knocked down 11 of 24 from the land of plenty, while Degenhart scored a game-high 27 points. In the regular season finale at ExtraMile Arena, Colorado State outscored the Broncos by 10 in the second half to take an 83-73 win on March 7. Clifford scored his career-high of 36 points, making 13 of 18 from the field, while Meadow led Boise State with 22 points.

CSU earned the program's third trip to the final by knocking off the No. 7 seed Nevada 67-59 in the quarterfinals and then dispatching No. 3 Utah State in the semifinals 83-72. Boise State rode strong defensive second halves to top No. 4 San Diego State 62-52 before knocking out regular season champion No. 1 New Mexico 72-69. It will be the second MW tournament title for the winning program – the Broncos are 1-0 in the final, having won in 2022, while the Rams are 1-1 and won their title in 2003.

The 68-team field for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will be announced at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 16.