Utah State gets defensive, suffocates Colorado State to advance to Mountain West championship game for 3rd straight year

LAS VEGAS — The rematch both teams have wanted is finally here: Two-time defending champion Utah State vs. No. 19 San Diego State for the Mountain West championship.

“Time for another heavyweight battle,” said USU coach Craig Smith.

In what amounted to a probable play-in game for the NCAA Tournament, the Aggies mucked their way past fellow bubble-dweller Colorado State 62-50 at empty Thomas & Mack Center late Friday night in a MW tournament semifinal game.

Utah State (20-7) will play for its third-straight conference championship at 4 p.m. MST Saturday on CBS.

“They are going to have a different level of juice, there is no question about that.” — Utah State coach Craig Smith on SDSU’s approach to Saturday’s MW championship game.

“It’s a quick turnaround,” Smith said. “But the Aggies will be ready.”

Friday night, in a game that didn’t begin until 9:41 p.m. local time, the Aggies used an 18-5 run to break open a tight game in the second half. They got a dunk and a 3-point play from Neemias Queta and two 3-pointers from Alphonso Anderson to grab some momentum, all while suffocating the Rams defensively on the other end.

Colorado State (18-6) was held to 25% shooting and was a frosty 3 of 19 from 3-point range, and will be having nightmares of Queta swatting shots the next six months.

“We held them to 25 percent shooting,” Queta said. “I feel like that speaks for itself.”

Snubbed in the voting by the league’s coaches for Mountain West Player of the Year — the honor went to SDSU’s Matt Mitchell — Queta controlled the game inside with 18 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high nine blocked shots.

He was a monster in the middle, pure and simple.

“He’s a big-time presence down there,” Smith said.

Justin Bean had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Brock Miller added 11 as the Aggies won their sixth straight game, unleashing their trademark stifling defense with just enough offense to get into their third consecutive conference tournament championship game.

“Tonight, it was a little bit ugly, but effective,” Smith understated, lamenting some in-and-out shots. “Offensively, I thought we played pretty well.”

There were a few scary moments for the Aggies late. After Queta hit two free throws to give USU a 57-44 lead, the Aggies had four straight empty possessions and CSU trimmed their deficit to seven. The Rams had a chance to get it to four, but Adam Thistlewood’s wide-open 3-pointer was off.

Colorado went the final four minutes without scoring; Utah State didn’t make a field goal in the final 9:30 but stayed in front with seven free throws. Rams star David Roddy was held to 3 of 16 shooting.

“Agonizing,” said Smith of the last 10 minutes.

It was a sloppy, ugly game befitting the late tipoff. It started like a hot mess and never got better. At times, the display of offensive inefficiency threatened to set the sport back 10 years, but the Aggies persevered and Queta dominated in perhaps his best all-around performance as an Aggie.

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The Rams served notice it wouldn’t be their night by missing their first seven shots before the first media stoppage. USU fared a little better, taking an early 6-2 lead despite turning the ball over on two of its first four possessions.

The Aggies stretched their lead to 11-5 and then 13-7, but blew their chance to put the pedal down, and CSU found its rhythm midway through the first half. 

The Rams scored on nine straight possessions to knot the score at 19-19, forcing Smith to take a timeout. He could be heard screaming at his team in the huddle during the timeout, his voice echoing off the empty seats.

“We just looked casual,” he said. “... Sometimes you gotta speak the language they understand.”

USU’s defense improved after the butt-chewing, but 3-point shots stopped falling on the other end and the contest with so much on the line devolved into a scrum much of the first half.

The Aggies scored the last six points of the first half, while holding the Rams scoreless on seven of eight possessions to take a 32-28 lead at the break.

The Aggies shot 37% in the first half while holding the Rams to 34%. In the second half, CSU made just seven field goals — on 38 attempts.

A 23-17 rebounding advantage was the difference the first 20 minutes, as USU turned nine offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points.

Several teams across the country were breathing easier when Nevada, suddenly a potential bid-stealer after knocking off Boise State on Thursday, was ousted by San Diego State earlier Friday.

So Saturday’s game will almost certainly pit two NCAA-bound teams and won’t have as much national attention, but try telling the Aggies and Aztecs it isn’t that important in the big picture.

USU beat SDSU 64-57 in the championship game in 2019 and got a last-second 3-pointer from Sam Merrill to upset the Aztecs last year before COVID-19 shut everything down.

This year, Utah State swept SDSU in the season series, but both games were played in Logan as part of the league’s plan to reduce travel during the pandemic. 

The Aggies won a couple of defensive slugfests, 57-45 on Jan. 14 and 64-59 two days later.

Expect another grinder on Saturday.

“They are going to have a different level of juice,” Smith said, “there is no question about that.”