San Diego State rallies to win Mountain West crown
LAS VEGAS » San Diego State appeared to be in trouble Saturday, trailing by 11 points in the first half. Then, the Aztecs’ defense took over.
The Aztecs held Utah State without a field goal for nearly nine minutes, changing the tenor of the game as No. 20 San Diego State rallied to win 62-57 and capture the Mountain West Tournament championship.
San Diego State senior Darrion Trammel, a Marin City native, scored four points in 20 minutes.
The Aztecs (27-6) claimed their Mountain West-record seventh tournament title, and second in three years. This also was their conference-record 15th appearance in the title game.
San Diego State clinched the conference’s bid to the NCAA Tournament, though it was never in doubt the Aztecs would be selected. What kind of seed San Diego State receives remains to be seen.
“I think we’re a fourseed, but we’ll see what it is,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “Our numbers are great. Our confidence is great.”
Utah State (26-8) also figures to be headed to the tournament when the selections are announced Sunday.
This was the fourth time in the last five years the teams have played each other in the Mountain West championship game. Utah State won the 2019 and 2020 title games, and San Diego State went home with the 2021 trophy. Boise State temporarily ended the monopoly last season by beating the Aztecs 53-52.
“I think it’s more of a rivalry of respect rather than hatred or animosity,”
Utah State guard Steven Ashworth said. “I think that’s what happens when you have the two best programs in the league going at it for over five years. We take pride in what we build as an Aggie culture. Obviously, they have a great culture and history here in the Mountain West.”
Neither team shot well Saturday, with San Diego State making 33.3% of its shots compared to 37.1% for the Aggies. Utah State’s points were a season low.
“We were very fortunate to win today,” Dutcher said. “I tell the guys at the start of the year that we’re one of the few teams when the shot won’t go in, we can still find a way to win. We can hang in there and make enough plays to win the game.”
Tournament MVP Matt Bradley scored 16 points for San Diego State and Jaedon LeDee had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Half of LeDee’s rebounds came on the offensive end.
“When he gets the ball, he’s such a threat,” Bradley said. “He makes our team so much more dangerous.”
For Utah State, Ashworth
scored 13 points and Trevin Dorius 12.
The Aggies were hot early, however, going on a 12-2 run in the first half to take a 26-15 lead with 6:57 left, but then went cold. They failed to make another field goal until 1:43 into the second half, but somehow didn’t fall behind during that stretch.
But the Aztecs got close, and eventually went back and forth with Utah State in the second half. San Diego State nearly put away the game by going up 5346 with 3:03 left, but the Aggies got back to within three points with 48 seconds remaining and two points with 30.3 seconds to go.
San Diego State closed out the game at the free throw line by making 9 of 10 free throws in the final 43 seconds.
NO. 1 HOUSTON 69, CINCINNATI 48 » Jamal Shead had 16 points and nine assists as Houston advanced to its fifth straight American Athletic Conference championship game, even after losing star guard Marcus Sasser to an injury.
NO. 7 TEXAS, 76, NO. 3 KANSAS
56 » Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice added 17 apiece, and Texas silenced a heavily pro-Kansas crowd with a romp over the Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament title game.
NO. 4 ALABAMA 72, NO. 25 MISSOURI 61 » Freshman Brandon Miller scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama advanced to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship by beating No. 25 Missouri.
NO. 5 PURDUE 80, OHIO STATE 66 » Zach Edey had 32 points and 14 rebounds in Purdue’s win over Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
NO. 6 MARQUETTE 65, NO. 15 XAVIER 51 » Tyler Kolek and Marquette raced out to a hefty lead and never looked back, beating Xavier to win the Big East Tournament for the first time.
NO. 21 DUKE 59, NO. 13 VIRGINIA 49 » Jeremy Roach scored 23 points and Duke locked down defensively to beat Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship, securing a title in Jon Scheyer’s debut season as the successor to Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.
87, Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points as Texas A&M dominated from the opening tip in routing Vanderbilt to reach its second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game and third overall.
PENN STATE 77, NO. 19 INDIANA 73 » Jalen Pickett scored 28 points, Seth Lundy had 16 and Penn State beat Indiana to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship against No. 5 Purdue.
Andrew Funk had nine points for Penn State (2212).