Utah State’s MWC tournament run ends in semifinals. What can the Aggies learn from it for the NCAAs?

LAS VEGAS — The Mountain West Conference tournament has been anything but predictable.

Unfortunately for the No. 18 Utah State Aggies, the top seed in the league tourney, that unpredictability bit them on Friday night in the MWC tournament semifinals, as No. 5 seed San Diego State beat them 86-70.

“They were the tougher team, the more physical team. They kind of brought the fight, and we didn’t respond at times,” first-year Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle said.

The loss ensured that none of the top four seeds in the MWC tournament will make Saturday’s championship game. No. 6 seed New Mexico beat No. 7 Colorado State 74-61 later Friday in the other semifinal.

The Aztecs outshot the Aggies 51.2% to 31.6% in the second half as they eventually ran away from Utah State, which blew a 17-point first-half lead.

USU didn’t hit a field goal in the game’s final six minutes, missing its last eight shot attempts.

“They’re such a great set play team that if we could disrupt their sets and make them maybe shorten their playbook or run stuff out of character or what they’re used to running, sometimes that’s good for us. I thought we disrupted,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said.

It’s an unceremonious end to conference play for Utah State (27-6), where the Aggies won their first outright regular-season championship.

The positive, though, is that Sprinkle has his Aggies firmly in the NCAA Tournament and likely with a No. 7 seed or higher, thanks to a phenomenal regular season.

“We need to get tougher and a lot more physical. That showed tonight, and we’re going to find a way to get that done. I promise you that,” Sprinkle said.

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What Utah State will bemoan from this one is getting outscored 69-36 over the game’s final 27 minutes.

Some first-half foul trouble for each team’s top post player had an impact — San Diego State’s Jaedon LeDee picked up his second just four minutes into the game, while Utah State’s Great Osobor got his second with 6:23 on a reach-in.

That forced LeDee to sit for a while, and he played just eight first-half minutes.

Osobor’s second foul, though, ended up being much more of a key momentum shift.

At the time he drew the foul, Utah State was just coming off a 22-2 run that had given it a 34-17 lead.

Osobor subbed out for the rest of the half, and San Diego State countered with a 15-2 run that brought the Aztecs within 36-32 with just over three minutes in the first half.

“As a veteran leader on this team, I need to be better to know that I can’t pick that second foul up.,” Osobor said. “I think it took me a little too long to get back into rhythm after that.”

His coach agreed that foul, in a game with 45 between the two teams, changed the outlook of the game.

“We had some careless fouls. Great picking up his second, he’s too good of a player to pick up a foul like that, and that changed the game,” Sprinkle said. “I think they outscored us by 14 the last six and a half minutes of that first half, but it was toughness plays.”

The Aggies eventually went into halftime leading 39-36 after the Aztecs’ Darrion Trammell hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it a one-possession game.

Then in the second half, moments after a stretch in which Ian Martinez countered two San Diego State 3-pointers with 3s of his own to keep it a tie game, the Aztecs started a 16-3 spurt with a fifth 3 in a row, this one from Lamont Butler.

That 13-point advantage by San Diego State over a nearly five-minute span put the Aztecs ahead with 9:56 to play, and from there, the top-seed Aggies were forced to play catchup.

LeDee fouled out with two minutes remaining and San Diego State leading 78-68, but any hope that Utah State could rally quickly was doused early when Osobor missed two free throws and moments later, San Diego State’s Micah Parrish hit two from the stripe to make it a 12-point game.

LeDee’s foul trouble did little to disrupt his impact. He still ended up with 22 points and eight rebounds while shooting 8 of 14 and hitting a second-half 3-pointer.

LeDee also had two assists and a steal.

Osobor, meanwhile, scored 11 of his 19 total points in the game’s first 10 minutes but had his impact diminished as the game wore on.

He also had five rebounds and three blocks.

San Diego State ended up shooting 46.8% to Utah State’s 40.0% and hit eight 3-pointers to the Aggies’ five.

Butler hit a team-high three 3-pointers for the Aztecs while finishing with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal for a team that had five players score in double figures.

Martinez ended up with 16 points for the Aggies, including three 3-pointers, while adding five rebounds and two assists. Isaac Johnson was the only other USU player in double-figures, with 11 points.

San Diego State had a decided 13-2 advantage in points off turnovers, even though the turnover total between the two schools wasn’t that large — Utah State had eight and San Diego State ended up with four.

“Both teams took care of the ball. I thought we set the pace of the game with our pressure,” Dutcher said.

It’s a good lesson for Utah State heading into the NCAA Tournament: stay aggressive, and play smart.

“A lot of teams don’t have another game. We have a chance to bounce back from some of the things that I’ve kind of mentioned that we need to work on. We’re very fortunate that we have another game to hopefully correct that,” Sprinkle said.

The Aggies will find out their postseason destination on Sunday, with the NCAA Tournament selection show beginning at 4 p.m. MDT on CBS.