FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — D.J. Gay sank a jumper with 1.8 seconds left to lift seventh-ranked San Diego State past Colorado State 56-54 Wednesday night.

Gay, who has a reputation for coming through in the clutch, then hauled in the long inbounds pass as the buzzer sounded and his teammates mobbed him.

Travis Franklin’s driving layup for Colorado State had tied it with 10.1 seconds remaining.

James Rahon scored 15 points and Kawhi Leonard posted his 32nd career double-double with 12 points and 15 boards for the Aztecs (22-1, 7-1 Mountain West), who got quite a scare from the Rams (15-7, 5-3).

Colorado State might have pulled off the upset had they not been so off-the-mark from the free throw line, where they were just 14-of-22.

Andy Ogide scored 18 points and pulled down a dozen rebounds for the Rams, who haven’t beaten a top-25 opponent since upsetting 25th-ranked Air Force in the 2004 Mountain West Conference postseason tournament.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)