The regular season ended over the weekend, and the Mountain West Tournament begins on Wednesday, starting in Colorado and Fresno states at 11:00 AM PT.

The Mountain West announced all of their end-of-season awards on Monday, but that hasn’t stopped us from presenting our annual awards!

In total we had six voters, including myself. Today, in the first part of our awards series, we’re taking a deep dive into who we’ve selected for our first and second teams. We didn’t make a third team like the conference does, but that only makes the selection more difficult, not easier. We also used a format with three defensemen and two forwards for each team, which Mountain West does not adhere to.

Let’s dive into it!

First team:

Guard: Jamal Mashburn Jr., New Mexico.

Mashburn led Mountain West in total points scored (603) and points per game (19.5), including a conference-record 21.0 points in 18 Mountain West cases. Mashburn improved his shot percentage to 53.7% (up from 52.4%) but was knocking down 39.7% of his 4.1 triple attempts per game. Even as New Mexico collapsed at the end of the season, Mashburn was the engine behind one of the most productive offenses in the country.

Guard: Elijah Harkless, UNLV

Harkless didn’t win the Conference Rookie of the Year award, but his influence was still felt every night. He finished second behind Mashburn in scoring with a constant dose of contested deuces and was by far the most effective UNLV scorer at any given moment. Harkless is also an underrated defender.

Guard: Omari Moore, San Jose State.

On Monday, Moore was awarded Mountain West Player of the Year as the conference’s fourth leading scorer, but was third (20.7 ppg) in conference game and also led in assists (4.9 assists). Moore helped SJSU reach the first round bye in the MW Tournament in program history.

Forward: Morris Udeze, New Mexico

Very few Mountain West players have been more dominant on the glass than Udeze, who won Rookie of the Year honors. He led the conference in rebounding (9.4) and was one of five players to finish in the top 10 in KenPom offensive and defensive rebounding percentage. He led the Mountain West with 12 double-doubles, including three 20-10 double-doubles.

Forward: Tyson Degenhart, Boise State

Degenhart was one of the most influential players, although he didn’t always light the points. He ranked in the top 5 in win share, boxing give and take and field goals, and finished in the top 15 in scoring, rebounding and blocking percentage.

Second command:

Security Guard: Jaelen House, New Mexico.

House has finished in the top 6 this season in both scoring and assists. House was the main mover behind the New Mexico game both in the half court and in the crossover where it was a blur. For the second consecutive season, House – a very good shooting guard – leads the conference in total steals with 76, 24 more than any other player (Keshawn Gilbert – 52). He recorded a conference-record 41 interceptions in a Mountain West game (seven more than any other player), despite missing two games with an injury.

Guard: Isaiah Stevens, Colorado.

Stevens has missed most non-conference games, which is a big reason he’s on the second team instead of the first. Regardless, Stevens put together a formidable offense in Colorado State, again leading the conference in assists, averaging 17.9 points on 48/39/86 shots (58.2% TS).

Guard: Stephen Ashworth, Utah.

Despite coming off the bench at the start of the season, Ashworth was the main driving force behind what is arguably the deadliest Mountain West offense in Utah. He led all MW players in 3-pointers (100), 3-point percentage (.450) and free throw percentage (.889), as well as offensive win rate (4.6) and 40-minute win rate (.226). ).

Forward: Will Baker, Nevada

Baker was the only 7-footer in Nevada’s rotation this season, and it paid dividends for the team’s interval. He entered the top 20 in points and rebounds, becoming one of the deadliest players in the conference.

Forward: Taylor Funk, Utah State

Both Funk and Nye Smith (below) split the votes, getting three votes for the second team, so we’ve included both of them. Aside from Ashworth, Funk was the main beneficiary of USU’s large-scale three-point offense, shooting down 38.0% of his three-pointers while averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds for the season.

Forward: Nye Smith, Boise State

Smith was one of the all-around defensemen on arguably the best defensive team in the conference, but he was also one of Boise’s best guys. He averaged 9.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 1.1 blocks but increased his averages to 11-6-1-1 on 54.5% shooting and 39.4% from the depths in the game Mountain West.

We will announce our post-season awards like Player of the Year, DPOY, COY, 6MOY and more on Wednesday! Stay tuned!

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