Sean Bairstow drives to the basket. Photo by Tina Lerohl LAS VEGAS — Utah State steamrolled Air Force 83 to 56 and advance to the quarterfinal of the Mountain West Basketball Championship. The 27-point margin of victory set a record for the Aggies’ biggest Mountain West Tournament win in program history, passing a 26-point victory against San Jose State in 2017. With 12:27 left in the game, forward Brandon Horvath slammed home a two-handed dunk. The flush put the Aggies up by 19. The play illustrated Horvath’s dominance down low against the Falcons. “I think my teammates were just looking for me,” Horvath said. “I just kept rolling the guards into the post and my teammates kept finding me, and I just got going.” Horvath has excelled down the stretch. This performance was his 13th-straight game scoring in double digits. He finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. “I thought Brandon was huge,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “He wouldn’t be sitting (on the podium) if he wasn’t.” Horvath was a key factor in the first half. He propelled the Aggies to an 11-point lead at halftime despite Utah State shooting 36.4% from the field. In the second

Justin Bean flexes during a men’s basketball game vs UNLV on Saturday, February 5, 2022. Photo by Tina Lerohl LAS VEGAS — No. 7 seeded Utah State (17-14, 8-10) opens up Mountain West Conference Tournament play against No. 10 Air Force (11-17, 4-13). It will be the third matchup between the two squads this season and the first time the teams have met in a conference tournament in their 29-game series history.  The Aggies’ game will be the second in a slate of three first-round games on Wednesday.  “I think it’s going to be a great tournament,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “A lot of great teams this year. It’s going to be really competitive.”  This season series was split between the Falcons and Aggies this year. Each team won the game at their home court. In Utah State’s first conference game of the season, Air Force won by holding the Aggies to a season-low 47 points.  “They got the better of us in a tight game,” Odom said. In the Falcons’ return trip, Utah State shot 61.9% from the field with four Aggies scoring in double digits to win by 27.  “We played much better (in the Spectrum) against