LAS VEGAS — With a rally in the second half, the San Diego State men’s basketball team beat the No. 1 seed Utah State in the Mountain West 86-70 on Friday night to advance to the final round of the conference tournament.
LeDee scored 22 points, while Butler added 16 in his outing and Parrish with 15 points for the Aztecs (24-9, 11-7 Mountain West) in the win.
The Aggies’ (27-6, 14-4 MW) big man, forward Great Osobor, led the team with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Ian Martinez scored 16 points, while center Issac Johnson added 11.
“Osobor is very good,” head coach Brian Dutcher said about the MWC Player of the Year. “We didn’t want to double him right away because he had seven assists and they were getting three-point shots. So we went into the game and said let’s make him make twos and not give him threes. You have to change the way you play he’s so good.”
The Scarlet and Black fell quickly behind early, and trailed by 17 in the first half, but built up a 69-56 lead with 8:12 remaining in the game. LeDee led the No. 5 seed with 13 points during the span, highlighted by a dunk.
Guard Darrion Trammell hit a 3-pointer as the game clock expired in the first half for the Aztecs to cut the Aggies’ lead down to 39-36 at halftime, and brought momentum into the second half of play. The first-half buzzer beater was also the second straight game in the tournament, Trammell has made such a play.
LeDee and Osobor found themselves in foul trouble at the midpoint of the second half, Osobor picked up his third foul with 13:21, having to sit out nearly three minutes. LeDee also picked up his third foul with 8:51 left, but remained in the game.
“As a veteran leader on this team, I need to be better to know that I can’t pick that second foul up,” Osobor said. “Then I think I sat for the last eight minutes of the first half. Then it was just getting back into rhythm. I think it took me a little too long to get back into rhythm after that. I just need to be better knowing when to reach and stuff like that.”
The Aztecs’ lead was then cut down to seven after Osobor made one of two free throws, but two free throws made by LeDee, and another from Butler soon after, brought the Aztecs lead back to 10.
LeDee eventually fouled out with two minutes left in the game, but the Aggies couldn’t overcome an eight-point deficit. He played only eight minutes in the first half, scoring five points, but totaled 22 points by the end of the night.
Parrish spoke on closing tight games with a win as of late, and what it’s done for the team.
“I mean, at the beginning of the year, every time we have close games we have to get over the hump,” Parrish stated. “This past couple of weeks, we haven’t been able to get over the hump. So it’s nice to finally get over the hump again and know what it feels like to finish games. That’s going to help us in the future.”
San Diego State will play the New Mexico Lobos in the championship game tonight, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m.
