SALT LAKE CITY — Even Utah State’s players and coaches were speechless to a degree after the team’s 54-53 win over San Francisco that included a wild game-winning tip-in with 15 seconds on the clock despite the team having its worst offensive night of the season. The Aggies had taken a 52-50 lead after Kalifa Sakho made a crucial layup, grabbing his own blocked shot attempt and gracefully arcing the ball off the backboard for a go-ahead 2-pointer. That shot punctuated a 6-0 run by Utah State that flipped a 50-46 lead for San Francisco into that two-point lead. But San Francisco had drilled a clutch shot of its own, a 3-pointer, to give the Dons the lead again with just 37 on the game clock. Utah State ran a play that looked to isolate the man with the hot hand — Ian Martinez with his team-leading 20 points on the night — on the left wing. But Darius Brown saw an opening off a screen from Great Osobor and took an elbow jumper for a go-ahead look. That shot bounced off the rim and down into a crowd of several Aggie and Dons big-men, and after the flailing arms

Utah State will face one of the toughest opponents — not just to date but perhaps of the entire season — in the San Francisco Dons. That obviously brings the risk of the Aggies losing its now nine-game winning streak, but also the possibility of a statement win that will be remembered come March. San Francisco currently sits at No. 50 in the NET, and with this game taking place in Salt Lake City at the Delta Center, it makes this game technically a neutral-site game (much like last year’s game at the Chase Center a neutral-site game despite being within an hour of the Dons’ campus) and games against top 50 opponents qualify as Quad 1 wins, something Utah State doesn’t have yet. Despite the Dons currently ranking 50th, if the Aggies win, it’ll likely mean the game would become a Quad 2 win, since San Francisco’s rankings would fall above the cut-off for a Quad 1 win (1-50 in the NET) but down the line it could return to Quad 1 game territory. USU head coach Danny Sprinkle credited San Francisco with being “the best defensive team that we’ve faced so far.” It’s quite the compliment considering some