Colorado State’s run in the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball tournament came to an abrupt halt Thursday night as the Rams lost a physical contest to San Diego State in the quarterfinals.
The Aztecs took control of the game late in the first half and never relinquished their lead in the second half on their way to a 71-62 win at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
CSU, last year’s MW tournament champion, is now 20-12 on the season. The Rams still have hopes of continuing their season, and while it won’t be in the NCAA Tournament, they could get a bid to the NIT, the NCAA-run secondary tournament, or the College Basketball Crown, a small tournament held in Las Vegas in early April.
“That was a battle,” first-year CSU head coach Ali Farokhmanesh said. “It was everything we said it was going to be. I wish we had the last six minutes of the first half back. The offensive rebounding, that was the difference in the first half and separated the game from that standpoint.
“Our guys never gave in. They kept fighting. Proud of the fight that the guys showed. We were a little banged up too, but they fought through it, so I couldn’t have asked for more from this group.”
CSU led for much of the first eight minutes of the game until San Jose took a 14-13 lead with 12:06 remaining in the first half. The Aztecs maintained their advantage until the Rams took the lead back on a 3-pointer by Brandon Rechsteiner that made it 22-21 with 7:06 left before halftime.
From there, however, San Diego State closed the first half with an 18-5 run to take a 39-27 lead into the break.
The Aztecs outrebounded the Rams 26-14 in the first half with 10 of those coming on the offensive end. CSU struggled offensively as well in the first half, only shooting 32% in the first half and 33% for the game.
With 8:53 remaining in the game, the Rams cut the Aztecs’ lead to single digits at 53-45, but San Diego State increased its lead back to 14. With 2 1/2 minutes left, CSU got within seven at 62-55, but that would be as close as the Rams would get.
“I think it’s a testament to our whole season,” Rechsteiner said. “We’re down and we just keep fighting. The last six minutes, they have no field goals. It didn’t turn out how we wanted it to. Wish we would have made more shots down the stretch.”
Rechsteiner led the Rams with 16 points. Jase Butler added 14 and Kyle Jorgensen 10. Augustinas Kiudulas led Rams on the boards with six rebounds.
It was the last Mountain West tournament for the Rams, who will play in the Pac-12 beginning next season.
