Colorado State’s title defense at the Mountain West tournament rolls on to the quarterfinals.

The No. 7 seed Rams held on for a 67-63 win over No. 10 seed Fresno State on Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas to advance to play No. 2 seed San Diego State on Thursday (7 p.m. CBS Sports Network).

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Rams coach Ali Farokhmanesh said. “I think the first games are always the hardest. It takes a minute to adjust
to the atmosphere, to everything that’s going on, the pageantry of being in a tournament. It took us a little bit of time, but I think this team, I think it showed its growth throughout the year.

“We don’t win this game in November, because this was a
defensive game to start.”

Jase Butler’s big second half led the way for CSU, which trailed by as many as eight points early in the final 20 minutes. The sophomore guard scored 17 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, making a season-high six 3-pointers in the game as a whole, to go with nine rebounds and two assists.

Colorado State guards Jase Butler (4) and Brandon Rechsteiner (2) celebrate after a win over Fresno State in the first round of the Mountain West tournament on Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. (Chris Swann/MW Photos)

Butler’s seventh and final 3-pointer of the night was his biggest, as it broke a 61-61 tie with 2:23 left to play.

“Honestly, I got a lot of my 3s off kickouts from offensive rebounds from my teammates,” Butler said. “We do a lot of drills in practice just trying respace and get open, and my teammates found me. Credit to them. I just had the confidence to make the open shot.”

CSU trailed 14-7 early and didn’t reach double figures as a team until there were a little over nine minutes left in the first half.

The Rams shot just 31% from the field in the first half as a team, but buckled down defensively and kept the game within reach at a 32-27 deficit heading into the locker room.

“If we didn’t play the way we did defensively, we’re down by 20 at halftime back in November,” Farokhmanesh said. “So for us to guard the way we did in the first half to give ourselves a chance and then settle into the game, that’s what I was most impressed with.”

Junior forward Carey Booth was the only other Rams player in double figures, scoring 18 points and grabbing six rebounds.

Former Air Force standout Jake Heidbreder had a game-high 26 points for Fresno State, which led for more than 25 minutes. Freshman forward DeShawn Gory had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Rams and Bulldogs split the regular-season meetings with the home team winning both games. CSU needed a similar comeback last month at Moby Arena on the way to a 74-70 victory.

This was just the second win this season for the Rams in a game in which they scored fewer than 69 points. They were previously 1-7 in such games.

It’s the 21st win overall for CSU in Farokhmanesh’s first season and their fourth straight at the conference tournament. The Rams are playing in the Mountain West tournament for the final time as they and four other programs will depart for the new-look Pac-12 this summer.

One of them, San Diego State, awaits with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

“I know our guys are looking forward to it, it’s going to be an absolute challenge,” Farokhmanesh said. “It’s going to be a dogfight, and I know San Diego State is going to have a ton of fans here, so it will be a packed building tomorrow night at 6 p.m. (Pacific time).”