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LAS VEGAS — No leads are safe in March.
Utah State went on a 22-2 run midway through the first half of Friday night's semifinal to take a 17-point lead en route to what looked to be another Mountain West championship berth.
But in a matter of a few minutes, the lead was gone. San Diego State reeled off its own 15-2 run as Great Osobor and Mason Falslev sat on the bench in foul trouble for the Aggies. The regular-season champions maintained a 3-point lead at the halftime break, but the tone and tenor of the game had significantly changed.
The Aztecs used the end of the first half momentum and built upon it with another extended run that left the Aggies without much recourse. San Diego State grew their lead to 13 with just over eight minutes left to play en route to an eventual 86-70 semifinal win.
"They were the tougher team, the more physical team," Utah State head coach Danny Sprinkle said. "They kind of brought the fight, and we didn't respond at times. That's what San Diego State does to people. You have to punch back, and I thought we did early."
Though it looked like it would be at risk in the first half, San Diego State keeps a championship game appearance streak alive dating back to the 2017-18 season. The win gives the Aztecs now their seventh consecutive championship game appearance.
The Aggies bow out of the tournament as the top seed, but will hear their names called on Selection Sunday for an NCAA Tournament berth.
"We need to get tougher and a lot more physical," Sprinkle said. "That showed tonight, and we're going to find a way to get that done. I promise you that."
Jaedon LeDee, who was held to just 5 points in the first half, took over the second half to finish with 22 points and eight rebounds before fouling out of the game with 2:03 left to play and the Aztecs controlling a 10-point lead. As the senior walked to the bench, San Diego State fans chanted "M-V-P."
San Diego State's Lamont Butler added 16 points and Micah Parrish contributed another 15 points amid an Aztecs team that had five players finish in double figures.
Picking up where he left off Thursday afternoon, Osobor took control of the game early and established a dominant standard of play in the post, helping in large part to Utah State's large run.
Osobor took advantage of San Diego State's leading scorer LeDee picking up two early fouls and sitting on the bench, and had a game-high 11 points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting. The Aztecs were forced to risk it with LeDee on the court to stop the extended run, and it worked.
Osobor picked up his second foul of the game with just over six minutes left to play in the half, leaving the junior forward to sit for the rest of the half.
"With the lead that we had at the time, we didn't want to risk getting Great his third foul," Sprinkle said. "I would rather try to go in up 10 or 11, but then it just got out of hand there."
The Aztecs smelled blood in the water and attacked.
Darrion Trammell capped off the attack at the end of the first half with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer to cut the one-time 17-point deficit to three as the teams went into the locker room.
"We don't panic," San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher said. "We just fight our way — fight, fight, fight — and we caught a break. When Osobor got his second foul, he went to the bench, they were having a good rhythm; and with him out of the game, they had to change how they were playing a little bit.
"We decided to do play Micah and Jaedon with two fouls each, running the risk of maybe them getting a third foul by half," he added. "I felt the way the game was going we needed to make a stand in the first half. And we were fortunate Darrion hit another halftime buzzer beater to close the gap, and we were in the game at halftime."
Osobor finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting and five rebounds, but finished 5-of-10 from the free-throw line. Ian Martinez added 16 points and five rebounds before fouling out of the game.
Utah State went the final 6:05 of the game without making a field goal.
"They fight you for 40 minutes, and they make you earn it," Sprinkle said. "I knew they were going to get back into the game. I was hoping we would make a couple of shots or make some more toughness plays, but when you are playing a great team, that's what happened."
