Las Vegas, NV (Sports Network) - Two teams trying to assure themselves a place in the NCAA Tournament meet at the Thomas & Mack Center tonight as the San Diego State Aztecs and Utah Runnin' Utes clash in the title game of the 10th annual Mountain West Conference Tournament.

In the case of the fourth-seeded Aztecs, many had the squad on the proverbial "bubble" in terms of making it to the Big Dance before the conference tournament, but defeating top seed and 25th-ranked BYU by a score of 64-62 on Friday night may have gotten the program over the hump. On Thursday the Aztecs, who have two MWC Tournament titles to their credit from 2002 and 2006, began their chase for an extended postseason with a 71-57 victory against host school UNLV.

As for the second-seeded Utes, a team that began the 2008-09 campaign rather ominously with an 80-79 loss to Southwest Baptist, they almost didn't make it to the semifinals yesterday, needing to squeeze by TCU on Thursday in a 61-58 decision to make the cut. Friday night saw the squad dismiss Wyoming rather easily in a 68-55 triumph.

Utah owns a commanding 52-13 advantage in the all-time series with the Aztecs over the years, although the teams split their two regular season meetings this time around, as each won on their home floor.

Lorrenzo Wade was the star of the show for the Aztecs on Friday night as he tallied 24 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the hard-fought win over the BYU Cougars. Wade was perfect at the free-throw line for the group with an 11-of-11 effort, helping the Aztecs to convert 19-of-22 at the charity stripe overall in order to seal the deal. Kyle Spain chipped in 13 points as the team survived a mere 39.6 percent shooting from the field and 3-of-14 behind the three-point line on the evening. Wade, the leading scorer in the last two games for the Aztecs, is now averaging 14.6 ppg over the course of the 21 games in which he has appeared. Second on that list is Spain with his 14.3 ppg, although in his case he has played in all 31 games for the Aztecs, shooting an impressive 40.7 percent behind the three-point line. Defense continues to be the focal point for SDSU, as the program is limiting foes to just 59.7 ppg, while generating 67.7 ppg itself.

The Utah defense clamped down on the Cowboys Friday night, allowing star guard Brandon Ewing to tally just 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field, making it that much easier for the Utes to cruise to the 13-point win. Wyoming, which turned the ball over 14 times, was held to just 1-of-10 shooting behind the three-point line as well. From an offensive standpoint, Utah leaned heavily on Luke Nevill, as the standout logged 23 points, 15 rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists in the triumph. Carlon Brown contributed another 13 points and Luka Drca came close to a double-double with nine points and a team-best eight assists. Nevill, who was named both the MWC Player of the Year and the league's Defensive Player of the Year for 2008-09, paces the program with his 16.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest and has patrolled the paint in an effort to come up with 89 blocked shots. Lawrence Borha, a 41.4 percent shooter beyond the arc, comes in with 11.7 ppg, followed by Shaun Green and Tyler Kepkay with 10.6 and 10.4 ppg, respectively.