No. 23 Colorado State ekes by Utah State in MWC quarters

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Chandler Jacobs banked in the winning basket with 1.8 seconds left and No. 23 Colorado State held off Utah State 53-51 Thursday night in the Mountain West Conference quarterfinals.

Isaiah Stevens drove the lane in the final seconds, then passed across the paint to Jacobs, who laid in a tiebreaking layup.

Stevens led the Rams (25-4) with 14 points and seven rebounds, and MWC player of the year David Roddy added 13 points and six boards.

Brandon Horvath led Utah State (18-15) with 17 points, and Justin Bean had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Stevens put Colorado State ahead 51-47 with 56 seconds left before the Aggies scored four straight points. Bean tied it with two free throws with 13 seconds left. Utah State air-balled a desperate, full-court 3 after Jacobs' basket.

Roddy provided a gritty effort at both ends of the floor, with multiple aggressive dunks and a momentum-building block late in the second half.

Utah State held the Rams to just 28 first-half points and made things challenging for CSU all around the floor. Between an aggressive effort from Roddy and a productive outing from Stevens, the Rams had too much firepower in the end for the seventh-seeded Aggies.

The Rams shot 43% from the floor and 17% from deep. The Aggies, on the other hand, shot 41% from the floor but just 7% from 3-point range.

UP NEXT

CSU will face the winner of the San Diego State-Fresno State game in the semifinals Friday night.

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