Courtesy of Braidon Nourse

For 30 minutes of Friday’s second semifinal of the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Basketball Championship, it just seemed like the Rams couldn’t miss. Those last 10, the Aggies took apt advantage.

59.5% from the field. 55.6% from 3. Maybe the only qualm would be going 62.2% from the free-throw line.

You won’t find a better team win than No. 2 Colorado State’s over No. 3 Utah State, 83-72. All 10 players who touched the floor for the Rams scored.

There are plenty of notable moments to choose from: multiple runs of 10 or more points, streaks of 3s, stout defensive possessions. For Rams coach Niko Medved, a Nique Clifford steal and dunk stood out. Maybe even more so, a play where Ethan Morton and Bowen Born both dove for a ball bouncing out of bounds highlighted the energy with which Colorado State came out.

“I thought our spirit was at an all-time high,” Medved said. “There was a loose ball and both Ethan (Morton) and Bowen (Born) were diving for it and it showed where our mindset was and where we needed to be. These guys fought really hard to get here.

“They’ve really put everything they have into this team and each other every day to get where they are and it’s pretty cool to watch.”

The Rams shot out to a staggering 19-point lead at halftime, and built it all the way up to 28 at one point in the second half.

Colorado State had a lid put on its rim for the final 10 minutes of the game, and it became clear the Rams needed almost all of that 28-point cushion to see the game out.

The Aggies’ comeback effort was led by Mason Falslev’s 14 second-half points — 22 total — and seven rebounds.

Timely stops and throwing out a zone were the key for CSU to pull out the win. The MVP, according to Medved, was the clock — and the fact it ran out before Utah State could pull within less than seven.

For Clifford, late stops were key. His 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists were all game highs. After leading in those categories in Thursday’s quarterfinal against Nevada, he became the first player in conference history to lead his team in those three metrics in multiple games in the same tournament.

“We knew they were going to make a run. They’re a great team, so they’re not going to quit,” Clifford said. “I think we got stagnant offensively a little bit and got into their game. We just found a way to get stops at the end. They made some big time plays, but at the end of the game we found ways to get stops and seal it.”

The last time the Rams made the MW championship game was in 2017, which they lost to Nevada. This time they will face No. 5 Boise State, which beat top-seeded New Mexico in the earlier semifinal on Friday.

With tip-off coming less than 16 hours from the end of the semifinal, there isn’t much time for adjustment. In that case, the game plan is relatively simple.

“Boise State is like us — they’re incredibly well coached, they’ve got great players, they’re tough and they’re just going to try to go out and do what they do, right?” Medved said. “We’ve got to do the same thing.

“There will be tweaks in the game plan and all that stuff, but it’s who can get to their game quicker tomorrow on the court and who can make more plays than the other.”