LOGAN – Offense has never been an issue for Utah State so far this season, and that very much continued Wednesday with the Aggies blasting Westminster with a 117-53 domination.
It’s tied for the fifth-largest margin of victory in USU history (64 points) and was the most points in a single game since 2019. And combined with the first two games, it marks the first time ever Utah State has scored 100 points in each of its first three games. The only other Aggie teams to have three straight 100-point games at any point in the season were the 1972-73 and 1967-68 teams. No USU team has ever done it four straight games.
Utah State began the game by making just two of its first six shot attempts, but would finish the game with a shooting percentage of 63.6 — the highest in a single game since a 2022 win over UNLV — with the Aggies also going 17 of 31 (54.8 percent) from three. They also had 28 assists, the second time this season they’ve done so (in the previous five seasons, USU had one game total with at least 28 assists).
“Our coaches do a great job of teaching our guys, but you have to credit the players and the type of players we have. They really, really enjoy moving the ball,” USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “Sometimes kids have a tendency to pound the ball and go one-on-one. Our guys don’t do that. They find the next advantage. And that’s what basketball is. It’s about finding, creating and keeping advantages. Spacing the floor and taking what the defense gives you. And our guys have really played at a high level.”
Ian Martinez led the way in points for a second straight game, scoring 24 points. All of his points came from 3-point attempts. He made 7 of 9 threes and added a trio of free throws, which he got after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. The seven 3-pointers is a new career-high for Ian, and it made him the seventh Aggie since 2004 to hit at least seven triples in a single game.
“My teammates did a great job just setting me up early for me to get in a good rhythm,” Martinez said. “Most of the threes that I had were wide open and that’s all due to the good offense that we had. Thanks to coach putting in that system and my teammates making the right read.”
Martinez has now scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games, something he’s now done three times in his Aggie career. The graduate senior is now averaging 19.7 points per game in his first three contests.
“He’s got a chance to be player of the year,” Calhoun said. “I’ve been saying it all year. There’s some great players in the league, (Tyson) Degenhart, Donovan Dent, the list goes on and on in the Mountain West. This is a big time league. But Ian Martinez is a big time player.”
Joining Martinez in double-figure scoring were Karson Templin — who set a career-high in points for a second straight game, tallying 16 — along with Dexter Akanno (17 points), Mason Falslev (12), Tucker Anderson (11) and Jordy Barnes (11). Barnes’ total was also a career high as was his five steals.
The elite efficiency and scoring led to numerous runs. Utah State had 11 runs of at least 6-0, a small run that the Aggies make a point of trying to have (so much so that it factors into team practices where they run scrimmages with 6-0 runs being a condition of victory). They also had six runs of at least 10-0, which has been dubbed the “kill shot.” USU actually has 11 kill shots this season, which leads the nation.
Offense alone didn’t create those dominant runs, though, since the “0” on the Westminster end of the run didn’t happen by accident. The Aggies were very aggressive all night (at least more than normal). They went with a press most of the game, wreaking havoc with their significant length advantage and forced 24 turnovers and an uncountable number of deflections.
Calhoun said “we’d be silly not to (press) at times” to “change the tempo of the game.” He mentioned a host of his players, including Martinez, Akanno, Falslev and Drake Allen and calling them “big-time athletes” and citing their athleticism a reason they should go with the press at least on occasion.
That aggression paid off huge dividends as USU scored 47 points off turnovers (reminder that Westminster had 53 points total), including 32 on fast breaks.
There were a couple of injury notes for the game. Isaac Johnson did not play, though he was present, sitting behind the team bench in street clothes. According to Calhoun, Johnson missed the game due to a “personal matter” and will be available for the team’s next game.
The other Isaac on the team, Isaac Davis, had a mid-game injury scare. On an alley-oop attempt in the second half, he was unintentionally undercut by a defender and fell hard. The true freshman clutched at his back and was in visible pain. He left the game, briefly came back, only to leave again grimacing in pain and once again holding his lower back. Calhoun said Davis will be fine going forward.
Utah State will get the rest of the week and weekend off. The next game for the Aggies won’t be until Monday when they host Montana for a fourth straight home game. That will end the season-opening home stand and lead into a three-game stretch of games away from Logan.
