As the hunt for a new men’s head basketball coachcontinues, so did the team’s quest for back-to-back wins in2004. The team last won consecutive games on Dec. 21 and 31 of 2003over Purdue and Navy.
The search continued at the WAC tournament but ended in defeat.After overwhelming Tulsa (5-13, 9-20) 79-60, the eighth-seededMustangs (5-13, 12-19) fell to No. 1 seed and WAC co-championNevada 60-75 (13-5, 23-8).
Against Tulsa, three members of the starting five finished indouble digits.
Bryan Hopkins contributed 30 of the Mustangs’ points andwas red hot from three-point range nailing six-of-eight. PatrickSimpson added 20 points and pulled down five boards. Justin Ishamrounded out the scorers in double digits with 10 points of his own.He also grabbed three rebounds.
The game was close throughout the first half with the Mustangstaking a 34-31 lead going into the second half. Tulsa took the lead40-38 with 16:03 left, but back-to-back buckets from Eric Castroand Isham sparked the offense.
The Mustangs finished the game with a 39-22 run to dissipate theGolden Hurricane.
With the win, the Mustangs advanced to the quarterfinals of theWAC tournament where they faced the Nevada Wolf Pack.
Although close for most of the game, a win eluded theMustangs.
Despite shooting better in the first half against Nevada thanagainst Tulsa, the Mustangs found themselves down by three pointswith the score 35-38 at halftime.
In the second half, the Mustangs evened the score 42-42 with16:55 remaining.
The Mustangs shot only 26.1 percent from the field in the secondhalf.
The Wolf Pack capitalized and showed why they were the No. 1seed ending the game with a 33-20 run. For the third consecutivetime, Nevada ousted the Mustangs from the WAC tournament. TheMustangs lost in the semifinals to Nevada in 2003 and in thequarterfinals in 2002.
Hopkins finished the game with 22 points and three assists.Castro contributed 15 points and seven rebounds. Simpson finishedwith eight points, five rebounds and two blocks.
In his last game as a Mustang, senior Kris Lowe finished withseven points, one assist, and one block.
The Wolf Pack went on to win the WAC tournament over UTEP (13-5,24-7) 66-60.
Both teams will play in the NCAA tournament.
The Mustangs finished eighth in the WAC with a conference recordof 5-13 and 12-19 overall.
