With one more win, Utah State doesn't have to fret about its NCAA tournament chances.
The 23rd-ranked Aggies will try to capture the Western Athletic Conference's automatic bid for the second time in three years by topping Boise State in Saturday night's championship game.
Despite a school-record 28 wins during the regular season, Utah State isn't necessarily a lock should it need to earn an at-large bid, mainly because of a weak strength of schedule. The Aggies (29-3) had the 17th-best RPI heading into this week but its strength of schedule ranked 124th.
That will not change much in this matchup against the Broncos (20-11), who will move to the Mountain West next season.
Utah State has won five straight in the series by an average of 17.6 points, including an 84-60 rout in last season's tournament quarterfinals. This season, the Aggies prevailed 68-59 in Boise on Jan. 13 and 77-49 at home Feb. 5.
WAC player of the year Tai Wesley scored 22 points as Utah State shot a season-best 64.3 percent during the victory in Logan. The Broncos were held to a season-worst 32.3 percent shooting during their home loss.
The Aggies once again used their stellar defense in Friday's 58-54 semifinal victory over San Jose State and needed that because of one of their worst shooting performances of the season (37.0 percent).
"We won a lot of basketball games because we've got a lot of experienced players who don't panic," coach Stew Morrill said. "We had a really tough time shooting the ball tonight. I think we'll free up and relax a little bit tomorrow."
Utah State led by just two points with 55 seconds left, but the Spartans' Adrian Oliver missed a long 3-point attempt. Wesley sealed the victory with a pair of free throws, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
"We're happy we got out with a win, but, not to beat around the bush, we're here to win the whole thing and make some noise in the NCAA tournament," Wesley said.
Brockeith Pane led the way with 16 points and scored 19 in the win at Boise, helping his team finish 15-1 in the WAC - five games ahead of the Broncos.
That second-place finish meant that, like the Aggies, Boise State got two days off before facing New Mexico State in Friday's other semifinal.
That rest seemed to pay off as the Broncos routed the league's other Aggies 81-63 for their eighth consecutive victory - their longest streak since 1991-92.
La'Shard Anderson and Ryan Watkins each scored 16 points to help their team advance to the WAC championship game for the third time in program history. Boise State defeated New Mexico State for the 2008 title and lost to UTEP in 2005.
The Broncos had six players in double figures and were 9 of 15 from 3-point range. They're shooting 47.1 percent from beyond the arc in their last three games
Utah State, though, in among the nation's leaders in allowing opponents to shoot 30.7 percent from long range.
