House leads New Mexico past Colorado State 74-61 in Mountain West semifinal

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jaelen House scored 19 points and dished eight assists to help lead sixth-seeded New Mexico to a 74-61 win over Colorado State to earn a berth in the Mountain West Conference championship game Friday night.

The Lobos will face fifth-seeded San Diego State, which knocked off top-seeded Utah State Friday, in the title game.

New Mexico (25-9) held a 33-25 lead at the break and pulled away steadily in the second half. House hit to free throws four minutes into the second half to push the lead into double digits, 41-31. Mustapha Amzil hit a 3 with 9:06 left to make it 58-42. Colorado State got within nine points on several occasions, but could get no closer.

House hit 5 of 12 from the field and was 8-of-8 from the line to lead the Lobos. JT Toppin scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Amzil contributed 10 points. Nelly Junior Joseph scored nine points and grabbed a dozen rebounds.

Joel Scott finished with 20 points and eight rebounds to lead Colorado State (24-10). Isaiah Stevens added 13 points.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball