Basketball unofficially began in Cache Valley with an exhibition charity match between Utah State and Weber State. A Friday-night crowd of 4,150 witnessed the Jerrod Calhoun era (kind of) begin with a 85-66 undressing of Weber State in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Aggies had some rough spots in the game, particularly the 9-5 lead the visiting Wildcats kicked off the game with. A trio of 3-pointers outdid the hybrid zone/man defense deployed by USU as its offense sputtered slightly. Rebounding also took a minute to get working as the Aggies only had one defensive rebound in the first few minutes of the game.
But all those holdups were very much temporary.
Three separate 7-0 runs combined to form a 21-4 stretch that gave USU a 13-point lead (26-13 at the 8:13 mark). Weber State made one major push to bring that back down late in the half, going on a 10-0 run to make it 33-28, but the Aggies closed the half on a 9-0 run to take a 14-point lead at the halftime break.
Drake Allen stole the show on offense initially. The captain and starting point guard for the Aggies put up 12 first-half points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting (including a pair of 3-pointers). He didn’t score the rest of the game, instead shifting to a distributor role as the UVU transfer dished out four assists in the second half for a game total of six.
“Coach always talks about (taking) what the defense gives you,” Allen said. “In the first half, they’re giving me open looks, and we’re getting out in transition. And in the second half, I don’t know what their focus was, but they’re leaving a couple people open. So you got to, you know, whatever the defense gives you, that’s what we’re going to take.”
Drake Allen is the first Aggie in double-figures with his 10th point of the night! pic.twitter.com/4VGHmzrpmK
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) October 19, 2024
Ian Martinez took over the scoring load in the second, putting up 14 of his game-high 17 in the latter 20 minutes of the contest. Much of that was focused into short burst where he scored 10 of the Aggies’ 15 points over a four-minute span.
Martinez had some highlight-worthy plays, including a windmill dunk on a fastbreak that brought the crowd to its feet.
IT’S SHOWTIME AT THE SPECTRUM pic.twitter.com/tqotH2b3gZ
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) October 19, 2024
Plays like that kept the Aggies from slowing down, even with a second-half lead that ballooned to as much as 27 points.
“Those momentum plays, there’s literally analytics that show momentum plays,” Calhoun said. “And you saw our spurt-ability. And that’s really what the great teams can do. You can go [on] 6-0, 8-0 runs. If you can get dunks, I thought (Ian’s) dunk was amazing. I thought Karson Templin, the pass that Mason made to him was big time. And that’s what we want to do. We want to get out and run and make high-flying plays.”
It’s a bad day to be a rim pic.twitter.com/MDYOgAex84
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) October 19, 2024
Utah State got quite a bit of its offense, including several of the dunks, in transition. The Aggies scored 27 points off turnovers and 21 points on fastbreaks. The thought to immediately get the ball up the court is something the Aggies are making instinctual. Allen had one particular play where a deflected pass went high in the air, and as he went up to catch it, instead of coming down with the ball and then going up the court, he threw the ball toward Mason Falslev before even touching back down on the ground. Falslev went on to score a layup on a fast break.
“I’ll be honest every time I get a rebound or steal I’m looking for Mason,” Allen said. “That guy runs hard. Someone called him a bulldog the other day, that’s exactly what he is. He just plays hard. He runs the floor. So it was just kind of an instinct thing. I knew when I got that steal, Mason was gonna be off and running.
Allen and Martinez were far from the only ones putting up points. Isaac Johnson had 12 points and seven rebounds with Dexter Akanno providing 10, including a crucial pair of 3-pointers in the first half to lift the Aggies while the game remained close. Of the 13 players to step on the court, 12 scored a point and nearly half would score at least seven points.
Friday’s game being an exhibition meant Calhoun could send out every healthy player (the only holdout being sophomore forward Pavle Stosic who is dealing with an ankle injury). Even with that caveat, Calhoun said the team has depth to work with.
“I feel really comfortable playing 10. I really do,” Calhoun said.
Calhoun opted to start Allen, Martinez, Mason Falslev, Isaac Johnson and Aubin Gateretse. That meant Akkano, Deyton Albury, Tucker Anderson and Braden Housely– all of whom were starters at their previous stops — came off the bench to provide their contributions. Anderson struggled with his shooting, going 0-for-8, including misses on all five of his 3-point attempts.
“Poor Tuck. Tuck lived in the gym all week,” Calhoun said. “I just wanted him to see you get one down. I wanted him to get that layup, I thought he was going to make the layup, but he went 0-for-8. That’ll make him really hungry this week.”
Albury played well in his backup role, utilizing his elite speed to pester opposing players with defense and raced around the court on offense. His shot profile was limited to going 1-of-4, but the Aggies were +14 with Albury on the court. Akkano made his most important contributions in the first half, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, one of which gave USU the lead for the first time at the 12:59 mark of the opening half.
Utah State will begin its season in ernest when its hosts Alcorn State on Nov. 6 in the Spectrum. Until then, Calhoun will keep working on improvements to his squad even after the solid win over the Wildcats.
“There’s a million things to get better at,” Calhoun said.
