No. 25 Utah State is one of only two teams yet to be defeated in Mountain West Conference play, but it’ll be a challenge to keep that spotless record intact this weekend.
The Aggies (15-1, 5-0 Mountain West) put their unblemished league mark on the line when they host Boise State (12-4, 4-1) on Saturday night in Logan, Utah.
Utah State was reminded earlier this week, when it outlasted a spirited San Jose State effort in an 85-78 road win, that any team in the conference can put up a good fight on any given night.
“Every game is going to be a battle,” Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 15-1 or not, you’re going to get everyone’s best shot. I thought certainly (Tuesday) we did, and our guys were able to overcome a very, very hot San Jose team.”
Mason Falslev led a balanced attack for the Aggies, who won despite San Jose State hitting 14 of 33 3-point attempts. Falslev totaled 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
In typical Utah State fashion, though, a variety of players contributed in the team’s fifth straight win, including Tucker Anderson (15 points), Ian Martinez (14 points), Deyton Albury (13 points, six rebounds) and Karson Templin (10 points, seven boards, two blocks).
The Aggies were pumped up to be voted into the rankings this week for the third season since 2019 with a first-year head coach. Utah State had to earn it down the stretch, though, after San Jose State tied the game with about six minutes remaining before the Aggies improved to 78-25 all-time while in the Associated Press rankings.
“Personally,” Albury said, “I would say it just gave me a wake-up call on how blessed I am to be in this position to play for a ranked team, and to be around some guys that love the game and also are unselfish.”
Boise State had its own wake-up call this week, leading to them surging past UNLV 81-59 on Tuesday after falling at home against San Diego State last weekend.
Tyson Degenhart, who’s averaging 17.7 points and 6.3 rebounds, helped the Broncos avoid a second straight loss with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
“I thought we played 37 really, really powerful minutes,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said after his team withstood a 17-4 UNLV run in the second half. “I was really proud of our guys’ response. That’s the mark of a champion: the way you respond to some adversity.”
The Broncos will have a recharged O’Mar Stanley available against Utah State. The senior forward, whom Rice said was dealing with “personal issues” while having a few rough outings, had 12 points and four rebounds in a reserve role against the Rebels.
“He looked like he was having fun out there. That’s the most important part,” Rice said. “You’re talking about an all-league guy coming off the bench. Other teams are like, ‘Oh, man, they’re playing good.’ Now, here comes another really good player. That’s what we want, and that’s what we have.”
–Field Level Media
