Boise State men’s basketball was projected to finish fifth in the Mountain West, the league announced Tuesday. Redshirt junior Derrick Alston was selected to the five-man All-MW Preseason Team. The predicted order of finish and the preseason all-league team were chosen by a poll of media members who cover the conference.

 

The Broncos return four starters from last year’s team that tied for eighth in the conference. This year’s team earned 128 points in the preseason poll, just behind fourth-place Nevada (135) and well clear of sixth-place Fresno State (103). The top three spots in the poll went to Utah State, San Diego State and New Mexico.

 

Alston burst onto the scene last year and earned honorable mention all-league accolades after finishing the season as Boise State’s second-leading scorer at 13.4 points per game. Alston led the Broncos at 16 points per game in MW play, including a pair of 30-point outbursts. The breakout season came on the heels of a redshirt freshman campaign in which Alston averaged 0.6 points in 11 games off the bench. His 12.8-points-per-game scoring increase from one year to the next was the most by a returner in Boise State history and second best in NCAA Division I last season.

 

Utah State was the unanimous choice to win the conference. The Aggies shared the regular-season title last season and won the Mountain West Championship behind 2018-19 MW Player of the Year Sam Merrill, who was picked to repeat as the top individual honoree.

 

2019-20 MOUNTAIN WEST PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

Rank      Team (First-Place Votes) Points

1.            Utah State (17)                 187

2.            San Diego State                150

3.            New Mexico                      141

4.            Nevada                               135

5.            Boise State                        128

6.            Fresno State                      103

7.            UNLV                                   89

8.            Air Force                            76

9.            Colorado State                 59

10.         Wyoming                           36

11.         San José State                   17

 

2019-20 PRESEASON ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM

Pos.       Name                                  Yr.                         Team

F             Lavelle Scottie                  Sr.                         Air Force

G            Derrick Alston                   Jr.                          Boise State

F/C         Nico Carvacho                  Sr.                         Colorado State

G            Sam Merrill                       Sr.                         Utah State

C             Neemias Queta                So.                        Utah State

 

Preseason Player of the Year

Sam Merrill, Sr., G, Utah State

 

Preseason Newcomer of the Year

Malachi Flynn, Jr., G, San Diego State

 

Preseason Freshman of the Year

K.J. Hymes, F, Nevada

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