Las Vegas • After watching the two top seeds in the WAC Tournament fall, the path seems clear for a team just like Utah State to have a chance to win it all.

First things first: The Aggies (21-9) will look to do some upsetting themselves against No. 4-seeded UT Arlington (17-12), who have beaten them twice this year.

The Mavericks most recently flummoxed Utah State in a 61-46 drubbing on March 2, as the team was playing a game without Spencer Butterfield. With the junior back in the lineup Thursday, the Aggies hope to play well enough to earn a semifinal date with UT San Antonio on Friday night.

UT Arlington is the No. 11 team in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, and have held Utah State under 34 percent shooting in two meetings.

Junior center Jarred Shaw is looking for a big game after two subpar outings against the Mavericks, combining for 20 points on 6-for-24 shooting in the two games.

kgoon@sltrib.com

Twitter: @kylegoon