How No. 18 Utah State overcame an overtime scare from Fresno State in MWC tournament quarterfinals

LAS VEGAS — Survive and advance — that’s what happened for No. 18 Utah State on Thursday.

The top-seeded Aggies received a scare from No. 9 seed Fresno State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, but Utah State finally took control in overtime of the 87-75 victory.

“When we had to get it done, just like we found ways all year, they kept finding ways to get it done,” Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle said of his team.

The game featured seven runs of seven or more points — “Any time we would get up by eight, they kept scrapping back,” Sprinkle said — but it was the final one, this time by the Aggies, that sealed the win.

Javon Jackson, who scored a career-high 16 points, hit a 3-pointer just 16 seconds into overtime to give the Aggies the early advantage. On Utah State’s next possession, Great Osobor hit a jumper.

That set the tone for the extra session, as Utah State (27-5) scored the first 11 points before Fresno State was able to hit a pair of too-late shots in the final minute.

“We just knew we had to go take it in overtime. We were just prepared. As soon as we seen it was going to OT, we thought, yeah, we’re fitting to take this and dominate,” Jackson said.

Jackson, who turned 22 on Thursday, also had five rebounds, three steals and two assists.

“We don’t even come close to winning that game without Javon,” Sprinkle said.

Osobor, as he’s been all season, was a force all afternoon for the Aggies.

The 6-foot-8 wing, who was named both the MWC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, created foul issues for the Bulldogs while making 15 of 24 free throws. He finished with 29 points — Osobor also made 7 of 8 field goals — and added 17 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Jackson scored eight of his 16 points before halftime, helping Utah State overcome some early struggles. Fresno State led by as many as seven points in the first half as the Aggies missed 11 of 12 field goals at one point, helping the Bulldogs establish some momentum.

It ended up being the final game for Fresno State coach Justin Hutson, who announced following the game that he is stepping down as the Bulldogs’ head coach on his own terms. Fresno State had advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinals after rallying past Wyoming in Wednesday’s first round.

In a game full of spurts, though, Utah State closed to within one point at halftime and then scored 11 of the first 13 points in the second half to establish control.

“I felt like our aggressiveness, especially in the second half, was much better. We got some open looks in the first half. We just didn’t knock them down,” Sprinkle said. “The first 20 minutes of any tournament is the hardest. They had been on the court. They’ve played. They were in a lot more rhythm, and you could tell that in the first half.”

While 3-point shooting was a struggle much of the day — the Aggies made 7 of 25 and missed their first seven — Utah State benefited from some timely 3-pointers.

That included a pair from Isaac Johnson and one from Darius Brown II in the opening minutes of the second half to help the Aggies push their lead as high as nine at 54-45.

Brown later made two more 3-pointers, along with Jackson hitting another, and with 4:45 to play, the Aggies led 80-72.

Fresno State, though, wouldn’t go away.

Instead, the Bulldogs outscored Utah State 8-0 over the final 4:45 of regulation to force overtime.

Jalen Weaver, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points and eight rebounds, started that run with a layup, and Isaiah Hill — who had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Bulldogs — made a pair of layups 36 seconds apart in the final two minutes to tie the game at 80.

Hill then had a chance to put Fresno State ahead, but his 3-point attempt with 40 seconds left missed, giving the ball back to Utah State.

Brown, who shook off a slow shooting start to finish with a double-double on 17 points and 11 assists, then tried a 3 with eight seconds remaining in regulation, but it missed, too, sending the game into overtime.

That’s where Utah State’s toughness and experience took over.

“I feel like obviously you don’t want to have close games, but we like when the stakes are high. So we knew if we got into overtime, it was a 0-0 game. We got our jitters out of the way,” Osobor said. “They’re a really good team, and they played yesterday, so they had momentum going. At that point, OK, we had already played a full game now. 0-0. Go do what we do, you know.”

In a game where both teams shot just over 40% from the field, free throws ended up playing a huge role, as Utah State attempted 22 more than Fresno State. The Aggies made 26 of 36, while the Bulldogs made 11 of 14.

Osobor himself shot 10 more free throws than Fresno State.

Sprinkle said the Aggies could clean it up, as they missed chances on several occasions to bolster their lead when a one-and-one was missed.

“That’s our game plan every game. That’s just the style that we play, and our players, that’s kind of what we’re built for, being aggressive and really trying to attack the paint to either draw fouls or get the ball to the rim and let guys play one-on-one,” Sprinkle said.

The Aggies were surprisingly shorthanded in the quarterfinal matchup, as freshman Mason Falslev was in street clothes with an injury.

Sprinkle met with Falslev following the team’s pregame meal, and that’s when the coach said he indicated he couldn’t go.

“He hasn’t really practiced much all week. It’s just kind of one of those, we’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Sprinkle said of Falslev. “He’s been getting a lot of treatment on it, but I don’t expect him to play tomorrow, to be honest. I hope he does, but …”

The tomorrow in reference is Utah State’s MWC tournament semifinal matchup.

The Aggies will face either San Diego State on Friday in the first semifinal of the day (7:30 p.m. MST, CBS Sports Network). The Aztecs beat UNLV in overtime to advance.

After Thursday’s battle, Utah State is happy to be playing another day.

“It’s the Mountain West, there’s no teams in the Mountain West that we’re going to come in and win,” Osobor said. “It’s high-level basketball. We tend to thrive in close games. I’m glad — I’m happy for our team’s resiliency and the way that we stick together in close games.”