Mountain West men’s basketball tournament schedule: GCU falls to Nevada in quarterfinal

The 2026 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship is underway in Las Vegas, featuring Grand Canyon after its inaugural regular season in the conference.

GCU (20-11, 13-7 Mountain West) had a very respectable showing in its first season after jumping up a league. The ‘Lopes held on to a top-four spot with their win over Fresno State on Saturday, and with it came a first-round bye.

The ‘Lopes played their first game on Thursday at Thomas & Mack Center, home of UNLV and the NBA Summer League. They fell to No. 5 Nevada, 84-80, behind a strong second half from the Wolfpack.

Nevada was coming off a walloping of No. 12 Air Force, 80-45, in Wednesday’s first-round matchup.

GCU won four out of its final five WAC tournaments to earn its only four NCAA Tournament appearances since making the jump to Division 1 in 2013-14.

It would’ve likely had to take the same avenue of winning its conference tournament to make the NCAA Tournament this season. Utah State appears safely in the bracket regardless of what happens in Las Vegas, while San Diego State and New Mexico are on the bubble.

TV, times for Mountain West men’s basketball tournament:

All times listed are MST.

First Round on Wednesday, March 11 (all games on Mountain West Network):

• Game 1: No. 8 UNLV beats No. 9 Wyoming 73-70
• Game 2: No. 5 Nevada beats No. 12 Air Force 80-45
• Game 3: No. 7 Colorado State beats No. 10 Fresno State 67-63
• Game 4: No. 11 San Jose State beats No. 6 Boise State 84-74

Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 12 (all games on CBS Sports Network):

• Game 5: No. 1 Utah State beats No. 8 UNLV 80-60
• Game 6: No. 5 Nevada beats No. 4 GCU 84-80
• Game 7: No. 2 San Diego State beats No. 7 Colorado State 71-62
• Game 8: No. 3 New Mexico beats No. 11 San Jose State 93-77

Semifinals on Friday, March 13 (all games on CBS Sports Network):

• Game 9: No. 1 Utah State vs. No. 5 Nevada at 6:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
• Game 10: No. 2 San Diego State vs. No. 3 New Mexico at 9 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)

Final on Saturday, March 14:

• Championship: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner at 3 p.m. (CBS)

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