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Logan • If Utah State wants to avenge its most lopsided defeat of the season, the Aggies won't have to wait long for the chance to do it.

After a last-minute 75-70 loss to Colorado State on Saturday night, Utah State ended up as the No. 5 seed heading into the upcoming Mountain West Conference tournament.

The Aggies open against 4th-seeded Wyoming, which last Wednesday scored a 76-53 victory over USU at the Arena Auditorium in Laramie.

Utah State finished the regular season with a record of 18-12 overall and 11-7 in the Mountain West by dropping its final two regular-season games.

After squandering an eight-point lead in the final eight minutes against Colorado State, coach Stew Morrill was asked if his players could get back on track in time for a successful run in the league tournament.

"We'll see on Monday [at practice]," he said. "It's too hard right now. Right now, you'd say they were dejected, heartbroken, all those things. But college kids are pretty resilient. They're a lot younger than a lot of us and they bounce back. I'll be surprised if they aren't ready to go. I expect them to be ready. … They'll be all right."

Wyoming is 22-9 overall after finishing 11-7 in the Mountain West.

"We just got thumped by them, so it will be a chance to play better," Morrill said.

The Cowboys started 19-4 this season before star forward Larry Nance Jr. was sidelined with a case of mononucleosis. They went 3-5 down the stretch and failed to score 60 points in any of those five defeats.

Wyoming also had a difficult time scoring when it visited Logan on Jan. 27.

During Utah State's 56-44 victory, the Cowboys shot only 36 percent from the field. Content to play from the perimeter, they went 7-for-23 from the three-point line and earned their way the free-throw line only three times.

A key for Utah State's tournament chances will be the play of freshman center-forward David Collette.

In the Aggies' past five games, he's averaged only 22.8 minutes. He has not finished with less than four fouls. He has fouled out three times. Against Colorado State, he played 19 minutes, including only six in the second half.

Although Morrill is concerned about Collette's return to a foul problem that plagued him early this season, he's confident the Aggies will exhibit the resiliency that's been a trademark of his final year at Utah State.

Morrill announced in January he plans to retire at the end to the season.

"They're good kids," Morrill said. "This has been a fun team. They've gotten better. They finished a lot better than anyone thought they could. … We were bad early. I mean, really bad. [But] we made progress and, for the most part, they've played hard and tried to improve. I couldn't have asked for a better group to finish my career with."

Twitter @sluhm —

MWC tourney schedule

All times Mountain

Wednesday, first round

• 1 p.m., No. 8 New Mexico (15-15) vs. No. 9 Air Force (13-16)

• 3:30 p.m., No. 7 UNLV (17-14) vs. No. 10 Nevada (9-21)

Thursday, quarterfinals

• 1 p.m., No. 1 Boise State (24-7) vs. New Mexico/Air Force winner

• 3:30 p.m., No. 4 Wyoming (22-9) vs. No. 5 Utah State (18-12)

• 7 p.m., No. 2 San Diego State (24-7) vs. UNLV/Nevada winner

• 9:30 p.m., No. 3 Colorado State (26-5) vs. 6 Fresno State (15-16)

Friday, semifinals

• 7 p.m., Boise State/New Mexico/Air Force winner vs. Wyoming/Utah State winner

• 9:30 p.m., San Diego State/UNLV/Nevada winner vs. Colorado State-Fresno State winner

Saturday, championship

• 4 p.m.