Utah State Loses Big First Half Lead, Falls In Mountain Semifinals
Mar 15, 2024, 9:55 PM | Updated: Mar 18, 2024, 2:41 pm
LAS VEGAS, Nevada— Experience prevailed as No. 18 Utah State was outmuscled and outgunned in the second half of an 86-70 Mountain West semifinals loss.
Top-seed Utah State (27-6) faced fifth-seed San Diego State on Friday, March 15, in the 2024 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championships.
Final
SDSU – 86
USU – 70— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 16, 2024
Great Osobor led USU with 19 points, Ian Martinez added 16, and Isaac Johnson added 11. Utah State made 22-55 (40 percent) shots and 5-20 (25 percent) from deep.
Jaeden LeDee led all scorers with 22 points and eight rebounds despite fouling out late and playing with foul trouble most of the night.
First Half
A 9-0 run, spurred by a pair of paint buckets from Great Osobor, lifted USU to a 10-5 lead at the first timeout.
OSOBOR SLAM 💪
⚡️ @GreatOsobor
📺 @CBSSportsNet#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/OIrQhB4g89— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 16, 2024
Aztec leading scorer Jaedon LeDee picked up two early fouls, sending him to the bench. Without LeDee, Micah Parrish made four of five shots to give SDSU a 15-14 lead with 11:55 left.
Kalifa Sakho came off the bench to score four quick points as the Aggies grabbed the lead.
A 15-1 run gave USU the first double-digit lead of the game, 27-16.
Faking 'em out 😎
⚡️ @mason_falslev
📺 @CBSSportsNet#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/a7agpKVwE8— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 16, 2024
The lead ballooned to 17 when Javon Jackson hit a transition three. Utah State took a 34-19 lead into the under-eight-minute timeout.
Just Javon doing Javon things 👏
⚡️ @_JavonJackson
📺 @CBSSportsNet#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/aiJQF7gVyv— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 16, 2024
After a timeout, SDSU went on a 9-0 run that cut the lead to single digits and forced Danny Sprinkle to call a timeout.
Utah State’s lead dwindled to 36-29 with 3:25 left in the half.
HALF | Aggies take a 39-36 lead into halftime!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/U5GWVjykMu
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 16, 2024
The Aggies missed seven of eight shots to end the first half, making one field goal in the final seven minutes, but still led 39-36 at halftime.
After a 22-2 USU run, the Aztecs closed the half on a 19-5 run.
Second Half
SDSU hit five of seven shots to open the half, taking a 51-48 lead.
Ian Martinez hit two threes to keep his team close while the offense sputtered.
Another one, thank you 👌
⚡️ @IanJumaine
📺 @CBSSportsNet#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/qFxNr69wr7— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 16, 2024
San Diego State was on fire from the field, hitting four threes and eight of 11 shots to build a 60-53 lead with 11:28.
Trailing by 11, Isaac Johnson hit a big three, making it 69-61 with 7:06 left. Without stops on the other end, the Aggies couldn’t mount a run.
Utah State’s Mountain West tournament run ended with an 86-70 loss.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering the Utah State Aggies, Locals in MLB, and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees, Beehive baseball, and Aggie athletics coverage here.
