Jacobs' Layup Lifts CSU To 53-51 Mountain West Championship Quarterfinal Win Over Utah State

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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Colorado State's graduate guard Chandler Jacobs took a pass from junior guard Isaiah Stevens for a layup in the closing seconds as the second-seeded Rams came away with a thrilling 53-51 victory over seventh-seed Utah State in the Air Force Reserves Mountain West Championship quarterfinals Thursday night. With the win, the Rams advanced to the tournament semifinals for the 10^th time and improved to 25-4, while the Aggies dropped to 18-15.

This game was in line with the rest of the early action today in the tournament, as neither team led by more than five in the contest and it came down to the final two possessions. After coming away with a steal down two, Utah State pushed the ball up the floor but senior guard Kendle Moore drew a charge to give the Rams the ball back. A CSU foul on the subsequent free throw put the Aggies at the line where they knotted the game at 51. On the final possession, with 13 seconds to play, Stevens held the ball briefly and then drove the lane, drawing the double team and finding Jacobs cutting in from the right for the game-winning layup with 1.8 seconds left.

Colorado State finished the game shooting 42.6 percent (20-of-47) from the field but just 16.7 percent (3-of-18) on threes. Utah State was limited to 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the floor and only 6.7 percent (1-of-15) from the arc. The Aggies did win the battle of the boards 37-30.

The Rams were led by Stevens' 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while junior forward David Roddy had 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting along with six rebounds. Utah State was paced by Brandon Horvath's game-high 17 points.

STAT OF THE GAME
• The last time that CSU won a game with fewer than 53 points is Dec. 5, 2007, a 44-40 win over Denver at Moby Arena, when head coach Niko Medved was in his first year as an assistant at CSU.

NOTES
• Utah State has a 60-43 lead, but CSU picked up its first neutral site win over the Aggies in four tries with tonight's victory.
• The Rams have won five of the last six meetings, including all three of this season's meetings.
• This is the first time that CSU has scored lower than 60 points and won a Mountain West Tournament game and is now 10-8 in quarterfinal games all time.
• CSU is now 5-0 in neutral site games this year and 10-1 against teams that played in the postseason last year.
• The Rams improved to 18-1 when leading at the half and 17-0 when holding an opponent under 70 points.

NEXT UP
• The Rams will play in the semifinals of 2022 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Championship on Friday, March 11 in the 10 p.m. MT game. CSU coverage is presented by McDonalds at 2401 S. College in Fort Collins.
• The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network, with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn on the call.
• The audio will be on the Colorado State Sports Radio Network (along with online at CSURams.com), with Brian Roth and Adam Nigon handling the broadcast.
• CSU Sports Network broadcasts can be also accessed on mobile devices through the Varsity Network app (free on all Apple and Android devices).

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