LAS VEGAS — They ran, they jumped, they scratched, they clawed, they sweat.

Now they wait.

Now they hope.

Now they pray.

San Diego State’s basketball team bid farewell to the Mountain West by doing what it typically does at the conference tournament at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center, which means it wins the quarterfinals, wins the semifinals … and then bids farewell to the title, this time 73-62 against top-seeded Utah State on Saturday afternoon.

This was the Aztecs’ 12th trip in the last 15 years to the championship game. They are 3-9 in them.

Most other years, it didn’t matter because the Aztecs had already put together a resume worthy of an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament if they didn’t secure the automatic bid by winning in Las Vegas.

It matters this year.

Losing four of five games down the stretch knocked the Aztecs off the bubble, and their efforts to climb back on it in recent weeks might be a case of too little, too late.

Or maybe it’s not. They’ll find out on Sunday afternoon when the 68-team bracket is revealed, with the best they can realistically hope for being a trip to the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, for a second consecutive year.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had SDSU as the second team out in Saturday afternoon projections before the Aztecs and Aggies tipped off on CBS. Problem is, all of the “last four in” teams and the first out have finished playing, meaning there are no more chances for them to lose and drop.

And there are no more chances for the Aztecs to win and climb.

If they don’t hear their name called Sunday, they’ll most certainly receive invitations to the NIT or The Crown, an eight-team event back in Las Vegas in early April. Multiple sources have indicated that the Aztecs won’t accept either and instead get started on what figures to be a turbulent offseason.

As the final seconds ticked off and coach Brian Dutcher instructed his players not to foul, they stood and stared off into the distance as the Utah State student section roared behind them. The buzzer sounded, and Miles Byrd untucked his jersey and pulled it over his head.

Their thoughts, no doubt, drifted to the second half and what went so wrong after they had taken a 35-34 lead at the break and briefly led 50-49 with 10 minutes to go.

The game turned with 4:58 left when, up four, tournament MVP MJ Collins drained a 3 from the left corner. Reese Dixon-Waters shoved the screener, Zach Keller, and was whistled for a foul after officials ruled Collins was releasing the shot.

That gave the Aggies three points, plus put Keller on the line for one-and-one free throws.

Make, make.

A four-point game was suddenly nine, and that was pretty much that.

Collins finished with 20 points. Mason Falslev, the Mountain West player of the year, added 16, Drake Allen 13 and Garry Clark 11.

SDSU (22-11) got 20 points from Dixon-Waters, 14 from BJ Davis and 12 from Magoon Gwath. But it had 14 turnovers to six by the Aggies, who converted that into a 17-4 advantage off miscues.

Neither team could get separation from the other for the first 35 minutes, either because the teams were that evenly matched or they were that equally exhausted. It was the third game in 45 hours for the Aztecs and the second in 18.

And the Aztecs didn’t have their typically endless bench, which has been a detriment at times this season but can be an advantage when you’re playing back-to-back-to-back games.

Miles Heide injured his left (shooting) hand in the second half of Friday’s semifinal win against New Mexico and was in street clothes with its wrapped heavily. Elzie Harrington was in a walking boot and scratched again. That took the rotation from 11 to nine, and it was more like eight with Jeremiah Oden playing only two minutes.

The largest lead by either team was six points, by Utah State when the Aztecs came out for the second half looking like they all popped Ambiens in the locker room. Dutcher called a quick timeout, something he is loathe to do, but it stabilized his team and it climbed back into the game.

Both teams were motivated but for different reasons. SDSU’s was obvious, not wanting to cast their NCAA Tournament fate to the Selection Committee with a loss. Utah State was already in, win or lose, but considered the Mountain West tournament something of a revenge tour.

The Aggies beat UNLV in the quarterfinals after being swept by the Rebels during the regular season, including 92-65 in this same arena just 11 days earlier. In the semis, it was Nevada, which beat them Feb. 21.

Saturday, it was SDSU. The score at Viejas Arena on Feb. 25: 89-72, Aztecs.

Revenge, completed.