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LAS VEGAS — In the Mountain West preseason media poll, Utah State was picked to finish eighth in the conference. Four months later, it will play in the Mountain West championship game for the fourth time in five seasons.
Its opponent? The same team as the first three other championship games: San Diego State.
Utah State, who tied Boise State for second in the conference in the regular season, used a big second-half run in the semifinals Friday night to knock out the Broncos and punch its ticket to Saturday's bout with the Aztecs (4 p.m. MST, CBS).
Picking up its second Quad 1 win of the season Friday night, Utah State is ranked 18th in the KenPom and in NET and has almost certainly earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament — regardless of what plays out on Saturday.
Don't expect that to lower the stakes for the Aggies, however.
To win Mountain West Tournament championship was one of the main goals the team had as it entered the season. Facing the Aztecs, the only team the Aggies failed to beat in the regular season, there will be no lack of motivation.
A third conference tournament championship in five seasons against No. 20 San Diego State would boost the Aggies' seed in the NCAA Tournament and further demonstrate its recent dominance within the conference.
"It's a big game. It's the championship game, and it's what we've been working for all summer," Steven Ashworth said Friday night. "We say it every single breakdown that we want to be playing for the Mountain West championship, and we know how good this league is and how much of an accomplishment that is already. But we're not just happy to be here; we have something still to prove."
Five Aggies players were on the Craig Smith-led roster last time the Aggies faced the Aztecs in Vegas in 2021. Just two — Ashworth and Max Shulga — played and went a combined 10 minutes with 0 points.
This go around, the two aren't merely role players on a defensive-minded team; they're both double-digit scorers and All-Mountain West players for the 12th most efficient offense in college basketball.
Rounded out by big men Trevin Dorius, Taylor Funk and Dan Akin, and guards Sean Bairstow and RJ Etyle-Rock, second year coach Ryan Odom has proven he can build a team to compete at the top of the league. Saturday afternoon will be the biggest spotlight he's been in since he led 16th-seeded UMBC to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament in 2018.
"Yeah, it's huge for our team. I'm happy for our guys, I really am," Odom said. "(We're) going to have to play really, really well in order to have a chance tomorrow to beat a great San Diego State team. They've had an awesome season this year."
San Diego State beat Utah State 85-75 on Jan. 25 in San Diego, in a game where Adam Seiko shot 7 of 9 from 3-point range and the Aztecs led by as much as 20 points. The Aggies played them tighter in Logan, but Shulga's potential game-winning jumper rimmed out and the visitors eked out a 63-61 win.
Similar to Utah State, San Diego State has many different players that can beat you. If the Aggies are to win, they need to play with the same intensity on defense as it did in Logan — when it held San Diego State to sub 40% from the field — while finding production from everyone.
Just a 16 hour turnaround – from an 11:06 p.m. finish to a 3 p.m. tip — will add to the challenge.
"We've got to play our best basketball because they came into our building and beat us," Ashworth said. "But we're really excited that at 3 we get 40 more minutes to go out and try to prove ourselves, and once again, as we say, play Aggie basketball."
