March 1, 2001
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Marcus Bailey scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to lead Wyoming to a 69-62 win over San Diego State Thursday night and at least a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship.
Wyoming's win combined with Utah's 71-60 loss at Air Force moved the Cowboys one game ahead of the Utes for the conference lead with one game to play.
Wyoming (19-7, 10-3) travels to UNLV on Saturday, while Utah is at New Mexico. The Cowboys last won a conference championship when they shared the Western Athletic Conference title in 1986-87.
Bailey took control in the second half, scoring 14 of the Cowboys' 16 points during a seven-minute stretch. Bailey made 9-of-15 shots, including 8-of-12 in the second half. Bailey, a 30 percent 3-point shooter, also hit 3-of-4 3-pointers.
Bailey made a 3-pointer at the 14:52 mark to give Wyoming the lead for good at 38-36. The 6-foot-5 sophomore hit another from 3-point range, giving the Cowboys their biggest lead at 55-45 with 7:20 left.
Brett McFall added 14 points and Josh Davis scored 10 and had 13 rebounds for the Cowboys, who ourebounded San Diego State 45-26.
San Diego State (13-13, 3-10) had its two game conference winning streak snapped. The Aztecs were attempting to win three straight regular-season conference games for the first time since February 1985.
Junior Myron Epps led San Diego State with 14 points, raising his career total to 1,010 points.