Aggies make miracle comeback against Colorado State


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LAS VEGAS — Senior leadership can mean everything in college basketball.

Seniors can turn the worst of situations into the best of occasions, and can help lead a team back from the brink of losing to victory. With Utah State down 10 points with two minutes to go, Aggies senior Spencer Butterfield refused to watch his senior season end against a Colorado State team they’d beaten twice. The Aggies fed off the resolve of their senior leader, and Utah State picked up a come-from-behind 73-69 victory to reach the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.

"I've been coaching a long time,” Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. “I've never been a part of something like that. That was wild. Credit these guys. We had to foul just to get it into the one-and-one three times in a row. We just kept playing and good fortune came our way.”

Utah State and Colorado State were tied at the half, 31-31, before the Rams built a lead that stretched to as many as 11 points with 2:40 left to go. That’s when Butterfield and Aggies guard Jalen Moore took over, hitting a pair of three-pointers to bring the Aggies within one at 66-65. Then, Rams guard Daniel Bejarano was called for a technical foul that gave Butterfield two free throw shots, which he hit to give Utah State a lead.

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“The main thing is we (had) to stay positive and trust our offense and trust our system,” said Butterfield, who finished with 14 points. “We have a great system in place. We were able to execute down the stretch. If you execute and screen right, do the little things, then you can overcome that physicality.”

Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy, who was Morrill’s predecessor in Logan, said the game’s finish was disappointing.

“You got to give these guys credit,” Eustachy said. “They played their hearts out. I don't know if this is against protocol or not. I seem to break it all the time. But these guys played their hearts out. Just one of the most unusual, uncanny chain of events that I've coached in 20-some-odd years as a head coach.”

Colorado State guard Dwight Smith set career highs in scoring and rebound, and hit a jumper late that gave the Rams a 66-57 lead with 1:35 left. However, the Rams wouldn’t score again until it was simply too late, as the Aggies made all eight free-throw attempts in the final minutes to propel themselves to the win.

“We got too comfortable. Mental errors, (we) just let up," Smith said. "Coach told us it would be another game the last two minutes because they make shots. They did exactly what he said.”

The Aggies will face San Diego State in the first quarterfinal on Thursday. The Aztecs beat Utah State both times during the regular season, including a 74-69 overtime victory in Logan. Butterfield said the team is aware of the challenge that awaits.

“San Diego State is a great team,” Butterfield said. “We've played them twice now. They've beaten us both times. We have confidence going in — we know we can play with them."

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