Las Vegas • It's hard to win a game when you shoot 3 of 14 from 3-point range, get outrebounded by your opponent, have twice as many turnovers than assists and make only 37 percent of your shots.

That was the ugly truth facing Utah State in Friday night's 58-54 semifinal escape from San Jose State at Orleans Arena.

But the No. 23 Aggies haven't won 29 times in 32 tries this season for nothing. Utah State was able to emerge with a victory because it's proven to be a great defensive team.

And Friday night was no exception.

With a sputtering offense, the Aggies clamped down on Adrian Oliver, the best pure scorer in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Aggies also refused to let Justin Graham make an impact.

"Thank goodness our defense held up," USU head coach Stew Morrill said. "If it hadn't, we would've gotten beat. But we have two premier defenders in Pooh Williams and Tyler Newbold, they both did a solid job and we were able to rally to help them."

Because of that, the Spartans had the same kind of struggles offensively. San Jose State shot an identical 37 percent, had 12 turnovers and six assists, and shot 5 of 19 from 3-point range.

Normally a prolific scorer, Oliver scored 16 points and needed 19 shots to get there. Freshman guard Keith Shamburger hit six 3-pointers in a quarterfinal win against Idaho, but he went 3 of 9 from the field on Friday night, and Graham found it difficult to get open looks as well.

"We defended well tonight," USU junior point guard Brockeith Pane said. "We were good straight up, and we helped out really well tonight. It was really a team effort for us, and it was something that allowed us to get out of there with a win." —

Strong defense

• Utah State limits Adrian Oliver to 6-of-19 shooting and 16 points.

• The Aggies force San Jose State into 12 turnovers.

• San Jose State shoots 34.6 percent from the field in the second half.