Utah State needed an offensive refresher after four straight games where the scoring hadn’t been as plentiful as earlier games in the season. The Aggies got just that in a 92-62 home win over Utah Tech on Saturday.
The offensive showcase hearkened back to the explosiveness of outings from mid-November, which saw the Aggies score 90 or more points in the first four games of the season. Saturday’s win marked the fifth time overall this season, but had a more refreshing feeling having come after a four-game stretch in which USU’s highest point total was 77.
“The last couple of games have been a little bit closer than I think they should have been,” said USU guard Drake Allen. “I think we all know that our offense didn’t flow as well. We weren’t running in transition as much as we should have been. So it was a big emphasis for us this week to get out and run, score a lot of points and it feels nice, always feels nice, to score over 90.”
This jump in scoring came despite lower scoring outputs from Ian Martinez (13) and Mason Falslev (12) — though their lower point totals had more to do with only playing a combined 46 minutes (the combined total usually being north of 70). Several players stepped up to contribute in the scoring a production department, most notably Allen and Aubin Gateretse. Allen, who scored just three combined points in the games against North Texas and Wyoming, tied a season-high with 12 points. He also had seven assists (a full-on season high) and four rebounds. The Aggies outscored Utah Tech by 39 points in the 22 minutes Allen was on the court, a number only exceeded by Martinez with USU being +40 in his 23 minutes.
“In the last couple of games I’ve underperformed, I think, dramatically,” Allen said. “Coach has had a meeting with me and kind of challenged me to get myself back to what I really am. And that’s getting downhill, making plays.”
Two other Aggies — alongside Martinez, Falslev and Allen — scored in double figures, Karson Templin had 10 points with Dexter Akanno leading all USU scorers with 16 points.
Utah State didn’t put a perfect performance on the board, with a few aspects of the game giving them trouble at times. Head coach Jerrod Calhoun said this Utah Tech team is “one of the smallest teams we’ll see all year” and that it was a “weird matchup”
“A lot of guards, a lot of cutting. I think that’s why we were up and down throughout this game,” Calhoun said. “Boise [State] and Wyoming also played these guys, and I’ve watched every one of their games, and a lot of the teams struggled with these guys early in the game because of that cutting and their ability to drive the ball.”
Shooting, at least from distance, was also a minor issue with USU making just 8 of 29 attempts (27.6 percent), though overall shooting ended up solid at 49.2 percent and 76.9 percent on free throws.
These hiccups kept the Aggies from the kind of blowout seen against Alcorn State (101-46) or Westminster (117-53) and nearly had the halftime margin at a closer-than-expected 11 points. Only a Martinez 3-pointer right before the buzzer gave USU a 42-28 advantage. The second half would end up bringing a jump in Utah State’s lead, going from 14 points to 21 before two minutes had ticked off the clock following the break.
Utah Tech’s final push in the game culminated with a 9-0 run, ending at the 5:57 mark and consisting of three consecutive 3-pointers from the Trail Blazers. That run pushed the Aggies’ lead down from 26 points to 17 and led to a timeout. Many of Utah State’s players, Martinez, Akanno, Templin and Allen had taken an extended rest on the bench but checked back during this break in the action. They came in and the whole team got a stern talking to about not slacking.
“Coaches got on us a little bit, let us know that we’re slacking off,” Allen said. “Games can flip really fast. Sometimes you think you’re up and then you look at the scoreboard and it’s a 14 point game. And sometimes it doesn’t feel that way. So you’ve just got to stay locked in. So in the timeout, he kind of just told us, push the lead back up, push the pace, put the press back on.”
Whether it was the timeout talk or the reinforcement of the best performers of the night, something clicked immediately as Utah State went on a 12-0 run that iced the game. Utah Tech, instead of potentially shaving the deficit to 10 or fewer points, found itself down 30 points for the final three minutes of the game.
Utah State’s win tied a program record and handed a unique individual distinction to Calhoun. The Aggies’ 9-0 record is tied for the best start to a season with the 2022-23 season and 1917-18 squads, who both fell in their 10th games of the season. Calhoun broke a tie with Ladell Andersen for the best start by a first-year coach in program history. Andersen started his tenure in 1962 with an 8-0 start. When asked about his new record, Calhoun said “it’s a heck of an accomplishment for this group,” emphasizing it as a team accomplishment.
“This is our team. It’s not Jerrod Calhoun’s team or one particular person,” Calhoun said. “I think what it shows is when you can bring a group of guys in and they have a common goal, you can win games. And you can win the right way and you can play a lot of players and you can buy into we over me mentality.”
