LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nique Clifford scored 24 points and No. 2 seed Colorado State made a Mountain West Championship Tournament-record 12 3s and beat fifth-seeded Boise State 69-56 on Saturday night for its first title since 2003.
Colorado State (25-9) will make its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance on a 10-game win streak.
Boise State trailed by 10 points at the half and pulled to within five points during the first minute of the second. But Jaylen Crocker-Johnson hit consecutive 3-pointers during an 11-0 run and the Rams led 43-27. Clifford made the Rams' 12th 3-pointer with about 10 minutes left that stretched their lead to 60-36.
Ethan Moore scored a career-high 11 points and Bowen Born added nine for the Rams. Clifford and Born each made three 3s as the Rams shot 12 of 24 from distance.
Tyson Degenhart scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half to lead Boise State (24-9).
Colorado State took the lead for good about eight minutes in and led by as many as 17 points in the first half. Boise State used an 11-4 surge to cut the deficit to 32-22 at the break. Crocker-Johnson's layup gave the Rams their largest lead, 63-38, with 6:48 remaining.
__
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketba
Colorado State guard Jalen Lake (15) celebrates after Colorado State defeated Boise State in an NCAA college basketball championship game at the Mountain West Conference tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
HAFJELL, Norway (AP) — World champion Loic Meillard won the season's penultimate men's World Cup slalom Sunday as the Swiss skier boosted his chances of taking the discipline title.
Meillard overcame a big mistake early in his final run and held on to his first-leg lead as he beat Atle Lie McGrath of Norway by 0.21 seconds. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was 0.47 back in third.
“It was a wild second run with a few mistakes. I just wanted to fully attack, maybe even too much,” said Meillard, who also won Saturday’s giant slalom on the same hill. “It’s a dream for a tech skier to win both days, GS and slalom, and for it to happen this weekend is pretty amazing.”
Meillard's sole previous career World Cup victory in slalom came in Aspen, Colorado a year ago, though he took gold at the worlds in Austria in February.
Henrik Kristoffersen, who leads the discpline standings, won both the GS and the slalom at the previous tech weekend in Slovenia two weeks ago.
On Sunday, the Norwegian placed fifth and saw his advantage over Meillard reduced to 47 points with only the season-ending race remaining at the World Cup finals in Sun Valley, Idaho on March 27.
Kristoffersen will secure the title if he finishes third or better in that race, regardless of Meillard's result.
“It’s still a big gap,” Meillard said. “So, he has to fail it a little bit and I have to do something very special like today. So, it’s really a nice fight until the end.”
The only other racer left with a chance to win the season title is Clement Noel. The Olympic champion from France finished seventh and trails Kristoffersen by 86 points. A race win is worth 100 points.
Kristoffersen has won the slalom title three times in his career, most recently in 2022, but it would be the first career slalom globe for either Meillard or Noel.
Last year’s slalom champion, Manuel Feller, skied out in the first run, but the Austrian was already out of contention for the season title before the race.
Racing on a hill where he skied many times in his youth, Pinheiro Braathen earned his fifth podium result since taking a year off and returning to the circuit this season following a switch from the Norwegian to the Brazilian federation.
“I had so many training runs here, so many of my fundamentals come from here, Hafjell,” said Pinheiro Braathen, who is chasing Brazil’s first-ever triumph in a top-level ski race.
Hafjell hosted World Cup races for the first time since 2003.
Swiss star Marco Odermatt, who locked up the overall and giant slalom titles on Saturday, does not compete in slaloms.
The race wrapped up the regular World Cup season ahead of the finals for both men and women in Sun Valley, which open with the speed events next weekend.
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
Switzerland's Loic Meillard celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Switzerland's Loic Meillard competes on his way to win an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Switzerland's Loic Meillard, center, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, celebrates with second-placed Norway's Atle Lie McGrath, left, and third-placed Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, right, and Norway's Atle Lie McGrath look at Switzerland's Loic Meillard descending during an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Switzerland's Loic Meillard, right, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, and third-placed Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen congratulate each other at the finish area, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Switzerland's Loic Meillard celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Austria's Manuel Feller competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
France's Clement Noel competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Switzerland's Loic Meillard competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Hafjell, Norway, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
