Back on Feb. 12, the Aggies were cruising toward a blowout of conference rival Colorado State at the Spectrum before the Rams mounted a furious rally that trimmed Utah State’s 22-point second-half lead down to as few as seven points with 42 seconds left.
“I’m really, really proud of how the guys played the last 10-12 minutes. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that for 40 minutes.”
— USU coach Jerrod Calhoun
Utah State managed to stop the bleeding and close out a 93-85 victory, but Colorado State clearly learned it was better to be the team trying to hold onto a big lead rather than the one attempting to dig itself out of a huge deficit.
With a trip to the championship game of the Mountain West tournament on the line Friday night in Las Vegas, it was the Rams who let a 28-point advantage dwindle to as few as seven points before righting the ship in the game’s final minutes to secure an 83-72 semifinal victory over the Aggies.
“I’m really, really proud of how the guys played the last 10-12 minutes,” USU coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do that for 40 minutes.”
Friday’s win was the ninth in a row for the No. 2-seeded Rams (24-9), who will face No. 5 Boise State in the title game Saturday at 4 p.m. MDT. The Broncos upset No. 1 seed New Mexico, 72-69, in Saturday’s first semifinal game at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“All the teams know each other so well in the league. I mean, we play in what, less than 24 hours here tomorrow. So, there’s not really a lot of time to think about it too much,” CSU coach Niko Medved said of battling Boise State for the second time in eight days. “We know what they do well, and they know what we do well.
“So, we’re going to go get as much rest as we can and show up, get a few shots up, touch our toes a couple of times, then throw it up and see what we’ve got.”
While the loss to the Rams was obviously disappointing for the No. 3 seed Aggies (26-7), Calhoun’s squad is still expected to be included in the Field of 68 when the NCAA Tournament is revealed Sunday afternoon.
“I think we’ve got to hit the reset button,” Calhoun declared. “I think we’ve got some guys who are a little bit nicked up, and then I think the seniors got to step it up. At the end of the day, you’re only as good as your seniors. That’s how these teams go.
“And (CSU guard) Nique Clifford is really, really good guys. If he doesn’t go in the first round, I know what these scouts are looking at. I think he’s a beast.”
Clifford continued his torrid play of late, knocking down 7 of 13 field-goal attempts and 9 of 13 free throws on his way to scoring a game-high 26 points. The 6-foot-6 graduate guard from Colorado Springs also led both teams in rebounds and assists, with 11 and six, respectively.
But Colorado State also got big production from sophomore guard Kyan Evans (14 points, four 3-pointers) and senior guard Jalen Lake (14 points), particularly in the first half when the Rams pulled away by as many as 22 points.
The Rams shot 59.5% for the game, including a 10-for-18 (55.6%) performance from 3-point range. And in a contest that featured 52 fouls, Colorado State knocked down 23 of 37 free-throw attempts.
“The free-throw shooting was uncharacteristic,” Medved said of his team. “We’re the best free-throw shooting team in our league, and I think top 20 in the country. But tonight we missed a lot of free throws that probably would have iced the game.”
Utah State sophomore guard Mason Falslev paced the Aggies with 22 points and three 3-pointers while going 9 of 19 from the floor and pulling down seven rebounds. Graduate guard Ian Martinez finished with 13 points — but was just 3 of 13 from the field — and sophomore guard Karson Templin finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Aggies shot 37% as a team, while knocking down just 7 of 33 3-point attempts and going 19 for 30 from the line.
“Our 3-point percentage was just abominable,” Calhoun noted.
“Every huddle, we just said, we can do it. We’ve got plenty of time. We were just trying to fight back and play as hard as we could. And I think we just saw a few shots fall, got a few steals and some turnovers. I mean, we started getting it going, but we just ran out of time.”
— USU guard Jordy Barnes
Down 49-30 at halftime, the Aggies got a couple of free throws from Martinez to start the second half before the wheels came off. Led by Clifford, the Rams went on a 15-4 run to go up 64-36 with 13:50 left in the game.
While the outcome appeared inevitable, Utah State slowly chipped into CSU’s lead before mountain a serious run, primarily with Falslev, Templin, Martinez, freshman guard Jordy Barnes and freshman forward Isaac Davis on the floor.
While the Rams kept managing to get to the free-throw line, they went nearly nine minutes without a field goal while the Aggies kept coming up with turnovers and baskets. A 3-pointer by Barnes with 5:38 pulled Utah State within 72-60, and four minutes later, a free throw by Templin capped a 33-12 run that left USU trailing 76-69 with 1:34 to go.
But before attempting his second free throw, Templin began to suffer from either a cramp in his left leg or ankle injury, and he had to be helped to the bench after missing the attempt. The Aggies went on to miss three straight 3-point attempts, and USU’s valiant attempt at an incredible comeback was over.
“Every huddle, we just said, we can do it. We’ve got plenty of time,” Barnes said. “We were just trying to fight back and play as hard as we could. And I think we just saw a few shots fall, got a few steals and some turnovers.
“I mean, we started getting it going, but we just ran out of time.”
