New Mexico Defeats Utah for NCAA Berth

New Mexico made its invitation to the NCAA tournament a formality Saturday night, getting 28 points, 11 rebounds and four consecutive free throws from Danny Granger in a 60-56 victory over No. 15 Utah in the Mountain West Conference championship game at Denver.

Playing as though their season was at stake -- even though it probably wasn’t by this point -- the second-seeded Lobos (26-6) contained Andrew Bogut and the top-seeded Utes (27-5) early and kept them an arm’s distance away most of the way.

And when Bogut (19 points, 16 rebounds) triggered a 9-2 run that gave the Utes a 49-48 lead with 3:35 left -- their first since midway through the first half -- New Mexico responded to win its ninth game in a row and 12th in the last 13.

Two of those wins have come against Utah, the league’s regular-season champion, which will almost certainly earn its fourth consecutive trip to the tournament as an at-large team.

*

Texas El Paso 91, Boise State 78 -- Filiberto Rivera scored 17 of his 32 points in the last six minutes to help the Miners (27-7) hold off the Broncos (16-18) at Reno, Nev., in the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

It was the seventh consecutive win for the Miners, who shot 67% from the field in the second half to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Their 27 wins are the most since they went 27-7 and reached the final 16 in the 1992 NCAA tournament.

*

George Washington 76, St. Joseph’s 67 -- T.J. Thompson scored eight points during a late 12-0 run to help the Colonials (22-7) get past the top-seeded Hawks (19-11) at Cincinnati to win their first Atlantic 10 tournament title.

The Colonials had lost title games in 1991 and 1998, leaving them as the only charter conference school that had not won the title. They also earned their first NCAA tournament berth in six years.

*

Vermont 80, Northeastern 57 -- Taylor Coppenrath scored 37 points to help the Catamounts (24-6) cruise past the Huskies (21-9) at Burlington, Vt., and win the America East championship and an NCAA tournament berth for the third year in a row. The win was especially rewarding for Tom Brennan, who is retiring after 19 seasons as Vermont coach.

*

Ohio 80, Buffalo 79 -- Freshman Leon Williams scored the game-winning layup with 0.5 of a second left at Cleveland as the Bobcats (21-10), trailing by 19 points in the second half, rallied to beat the Bulls (22-9) and win the Mid-American Conference tournament championship.

*

Delaware State 55, Hampton 53 -- Aaron Williams made a 10-foot shot with two seconds left at Richmond, Va., and the Hornets (19-13) beat the Pirates (17-13) for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title and their first NCAA tournament berth. Jahsha Bluntt tied the score at 53-53 with a three-point basket with 1:08 left. Williams grabbed a loose ball and made the game-winning basket.