Utah St. Aggies vs San Diego St. Aztecs Box Score on Mar 13, 2021

Jordan Schakel hit a jumper 14 seconds into the second half to ignite a San Diego State pull-away and the 19th-ranked Aztecs finally got the better of Utah State in the Mountain West Conference tournament, beating the Aggies 68-57 in the finals Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.

With a 14th straight win, San Diego State (23-4) earns the Mountain West's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Utah State (20-8), which had won the conference-tournament title in each of the last two seasons, is now relegated to hoping for an at-large entry into the NCAA Tournament when bids are handed out Sunday.

The second-seeded Aggies had beaten San Diego State in each of the last two tournament finals, then swept the Aztecs at home in January. But the fifth time was the charm for now six-time conference champion San Diego State.

After neither team led by more than six in a first half that featured three ties and concluded with San Diego State holding a 28-24 lead, Schakel got the top-seeded Aztecs rolling with his jumper off a Terrell Gomez assist.

Nathan Mensah followed with two free throws almost a minute later and then turned a Trey Pulliam assist into a dunk, giving San Diego State the game's first double-digit advantage at 34-24 almost two minutes into the second half.

Utah State fought an uphill battle from there. The Aggies got within six on six separate occasions, the fourth time on a Rollie Worster layup with still 7:27 to play.

But the Aztecs responded each time, and when Aguek Arop and Matt Mitchell recorded consecutive hoops following Worster's basket, the margin was 10 again at 56-46 with the clock down to 6:24.

Utah State wouldn't go away, and managed to get within six two more times. But the two-time defending champs never got closer.

Mountain West Player of the Year Matt Mitchell had 14 points to pace San Diego State, which was appearing in the conference-tournament finals for the 13th time in the 22-year history of the event.

Mensah and Pulliam finished with 10 points apiece, while Schakel and Gomez had nine each in a balanced attack. Mensah was the game's leading rebounder with eight along with Utah State's Marco Anthony.

Neemias Queta totaled a game-high 18 points, and notched six rebounds and a game-high three blocks for Utah State, which was the last team to beat San Diego State this season.

Justin Bean added 12 points, while Worster and Alphonso Anderson had eight apiece for the Aggies, who won last year's championship game 59-56.

--Field Level Media