Utah State moving on to Big West tourney finals

ANAHEIM — As Utah State coach Stew Morrill predicted, or at least hoped for earlier in the week, the law of averages finally went the Aggies' way Friday night in the semifinals of the Big West Conference tournament.

The Aggies (23-7), whose seven losses were all by seven points or less, finally won a close one holding off Cal State Fullerton, 84-77, to advance to the Big West Conference championship.

Utah State's Cass Matheus and Nate Harris proved to be an inside force too tough for the undersized Titans to handle.

Matheus scored 15 of his career-high 21 points in the first half, and Harris added 17 of his 21 points in the second half as the Aggies earned a third shot at No. 17 Pacific.

The Big West Conference tournament title and a berth into the NCAA tournament is on the line when the two teams meet tonight at 10 p.m. (MST) on ESPN.

Pacific (26-2) beat the Aggies (23-7), 73-66, in double overtime in Stockton, and in their final regular-season meeting erased an eight-point deficit in the final 38 seconds to beat the Aggies in Logan last month.

Beating Cal State Fullerton in the conference tournament has been a good omen for the Aggies. The last three times the Aggies and Titans met (1998, 2001, 2003) the Aggies won all three and eventually won the conference tournament.

Along with combining for 42 points, the two had 10 rebounds, and Harris dished out a team-high six assists.

The Aggies trailed by eight points in the first three minutes before Matheus caught fire as he scored 11 of the Aggies' next 13 points as they cut the lead to two points, at 17-15.

Fullerton would answer with an 8-2 run — thanks in part to back-to-back 3-pointers by Jermaine Harper — and led by 10 points with 9:17 left in the first half.

Jaycee Carroll, who was just 2-of-7 in the first half, fueled an 8-0 run before the Aggies eventually tied the score at 29-29 on two free throws by Spencer Nelson.

The Aggies, who ended the half on a 17-5 run, took their first lead of the half at 34-33 on a pair of foul shots by Matheus.

Neither team would score for the remainder of the half.

In all, the Aggies didn't score in the final 2:14, but the Titans struggled even more, missing their last eight shots in going scoreless in the last 4:15.