Utah State Falls To Colorado State In Final Seconds Of Mountain West Tournament
Mar 10, 2022, 9:17 PM
Justin Bean (34) of the Utah State Aggies pokes the ball away from Isaiah Stevens (4) of the Colorado State Rams during the first half of the teams"u2019 quarterfinal Mountain West Conference tournament game at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday, March 10, 2022. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
(Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah State Aggies played a very tough game but came up short in the final seconds, falling to Colorado State 53-51 in the Mountain West Tournament.
Chandler Jacobs made a layup with one second left to give Colorado State the win over Utah State.
Brandon Horvath led the Aggies with 17 points and eight rebounds. Justin Bean recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Sean Bairstow added nine points.
Isaiah Stevens scored 14 points to lead Colorado State, while also pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out five assists. David Roddy chipped in 13 points and six boards.
Here’s the final sequence of Chandler Jacobs’ game-winner & the desperation heave from Steven Ashworth from @JacobCHatch’s perch on press row as Utah State loses a heartbreaker to Colorado State 53-51. Aggies season comes to a disappointing close#KSLVegasMayhem #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/jdbzCddvLT
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 11, 2022
Utah State Loses Heartbreaker To Colorado State In MW Tournament
Justin Bean and Sean Bairstow scored nine of the first 13 points for Utah State. Despite the scoring, Utah State was not able to take the lead early when Colorado State went on a scoring drought of over two minutes.
Justin Bean gave Utah State their first lead of the game, 17-16 with 10 minutes left in the first half on a smooth midrange jumper. Utah State had a 25-20 lead with under six minutes remaining but Colorado State ended the first half on a 9-0 run and took a 29-25 lead into the halftime break. The Aggies didn’t score in the final 5:18 of the first half.
Brandon Horvath led USU with 10 points in the first half. Justin Bean chipped in nine points and six rebounds. Sean Bairstow added six points. Those three were the only USU players to score in the first half. Utah State shot 36% from the field and just 1-of-11 from the three-point line.
Isaiah Stevens scored eight points to lead the Rams in the first half. Seven CSU players scored in the first 20 minutes of play. They shot 40% from the floor and went 3-for-9 from beyond the arc.
The second half was extremely close with both teams exchanging leads and buckets. With under three minutes to play in the game, Utah State was up 47-46. Isaiah Stevens was able to bank in a deep two-pointer over Justin Bean to give the Rams a 48-47 lead with 1:56 to play.
After committing a foul on the defensive end, Utah State sent Colorado State to foul line and took a 49-47 lead with just over one minute remaining. The Rams took a two-possession lead, 51-47 with 52 seconds left. Rylan Jones made a bucket in the paint to put USU within two points. CSU had the ball with 40 seconds left and a two-point lead.
Steven Ashworth stole the ball and while on the fastbreak, Justin Bean was called for an offensive foul. After fouling CSU, they missed the front end of the one-and-one. On the rebound, Justin Bean was fouled and made both free throws.
Utah State dropped their record to 18-15 overall and 8-11 in Mountain West play. Their postseason is unknown but could receive an invite to the CBI or CIT.
