Las Vegas – Forget January and February. For the third time in five years, Colorado State knocked off a higher-seeded team in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
The sixth-seeded Rams (17-12) may have burst the NCAA bubble of third-seeded San Diego State with a 69-64 upset Thursday night.
CSU plays UNLV tonight. The Rams stunned the Runnin’ Rebels in the 2003 championship for CSU’s most recent trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“That was our main focus (repeating 2003),” said CSU center Stuart Creason, who finished with 19 points. “The coach stressed they did it in 2003, so why not now and why not us?”
Despite foul trouble threatening a string of six double-doubles, Jason Smith scored on a putback and free throw with 59.6 seconds left for a 67-62 lead. The Aztecs (21-10), who overcame a nine-point first-half deficit, never threatened again.
Smith finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Rams were able to run with the more-athletic Aztecs and maintained their poise, even as San Diego State started to reverse CSU’s first-half command.
“Down the stretch our poise was absolutely terrific,” CSU coach Dale Layer said. “Stuart won the game for us with his toughness, and Jason dominated the offensive glass in the stretch.”
After the Aztecs pulled in front 47-40, the Rams refused to fold and Creason restored the lead to 52-51 with 6:10 left.
The Rams led by as many as nine points in the first half, only to watch momentum shift in the final minute of the first half. CSU had a shot-clock violation on its final possession before halftime, and the Aztecs’ Jerome Habel scored to make it 31-30.
SDSU guard Brandon Heath hit one of two foul shots to tie it 31-all 32 seconds into second half. Then Mohamed Abukar scored to lift the Aztecs to their first lead with 17:40 left.
Heath and Habel went on a 7-0 tear later in the half, interrupted by Tyler Smith’s first 3-pointer of the night, as the Aztecs took a 47-43 lead.
CSU opened with as strong a defensive effort as the Rams have shown in some time. Heath had his team-high points (20) but the Aztecs were otherwise silent while CSU pulled out to a 22-13 lead with 9:02 left in the first half on a running baseline shot by Stephan Gilling.
The only ominous note for the Rams was foul trouble, with Jason Smith and Creason picking up their second fouls by the eight-minute mark. Smith took a seat, while Creason, the early scoring leader with nine points at halftime, stayed in.
The Rams would have dominated if not for 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
CSU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk said Thursday night he hasn’t scheduled end-of-season meetings yet with either Layer or women’s coach Jen Warden.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
