LOGAN – Utah State fell from the ranks of the undefeated Tuesday evening, its best-ever 10-0 start becoming a 10-1 overall record following a tough second half and loss to UC San Diego.
The Aggies held a 39-32 advantage at halftime, courtesy of a strong half overall and a five point burst in the final minutes. But they went on to shoot just 28.6 percent from the field in the second half. That struggle from the field came as a dramatic contrast to the first half in which USU made 50 percent of its attempts.
“It was just a matter of us getting in the flow of the offense,” said USU point guard Deyton Albury, adding that “making shots was tough for us in the second half.”
Many sequences and moments could be nit-picked to find a reason for a loss where the margin of defeat is two points, but the shooting probably makes the most compelling case. The worst offender in that regard was a nearly nine-minute span — 9:51 to 0:43 in the second half. Utah State went 1 of 13 from the field during that time frame, and while UC San Diego didn’t exactly explode on offense itself, the Tritons did eventually go from trailing 53-47 to leading 71-64.
The ultimate turning point of the game occurred with just under three minutes to play. Despite having made only one field goal for about six minutes at that time in the game, Utah State still led 63-61. A combination of free throws and solid defense kept the advantage intact for the most part (there were a few ties and lead changes). But the lack of offense ended up dooming the Aggies as the Tritons found theirs.
Tyler McGhie made three consecutive jump shots — a pair of 3-pointers and a mid-range floater — launching UC San Diego from a small deficit to a seven-point lead with just over a minute to play. It punctuated a night in which he had 26 points, most of those coming from his six total 3-pointers.
“Could have done some stuff a little better like, pay attention to the (scouting report). Gave up about six threes to (McGhie),” said USU point guard Deyton Albury. Coach talked about him a lot this week, preparing and obviously we didn’t defend him quite good.”
Despite this turn of events, the Aggies nearly pulled off a mid-December Christmas miracle. Karson Templin made a 3-pointer to cut the lead down to just four and a turnover led to another Templin bucket the made it a two-point game with 20 seconds to go. But no more miracles were to be found. UC San Diego made all of its clutch free throws, leaving Utah State no chance to tie the game in the final moments.
Templin ended up with an exemplary performance, tallying a career-best 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Mason Falslev posted his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists and four steals. Ian Martinez (12 points) and Albury (15 points) were the other double-digit scorers on the night.
Calhoun knew the matchup would be tough. He said as much to the media before the game and after the game, singing the praises of the Tritons to everyone who would listen.
“I’ve been saying it for 48 hours. It’s the best team we’ve played,” Calhoun said. “And I don’t know if anybody believed me, but I’ve been here for two days straight trying to figure them out and I think they’re really good.”
A number of issues ended up plaguing the Aggies. For one, their starting point guard, Drake Allen, left the game just three minutes in. A steal attempt from UCSD’s Hayden Gray ended with him running hard into Allen’s shoulder which, according to Calhoun, ended up causing it to come “out of the socket.” Allen spent the rest of the game seated on the bench with his arm in a sling.
For a while though, it didn’t seem to matter. Albury stepped into the role of lead guard perfectly, making all of his first five field goal attempts to net 12 points by halftime. Jordy Barnes chipped in as well with both points guards combining for one turnover to five assists all night. But with neither making a field goal in the second half (and having just two assists as well), the Aggies couldn’t ultimately overcome the loss.
Calhoun also lamented the lack of preparation for his team, though the Aggies did have more time to prepare (two days) for the Tritons than the other way around (two days for USU compared to one for UC San Diego). He didn’t seem to have enough time to prepare his squad for the more unique style of the Tritons, from more emphasis on boxing out, to scouting out guys like McGhie better and to, figuring out how to defend Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, a forward with no 3-pointer to his game but is a consistent scorer, largely at the free throw line (Tait-Jones went 10 of 12 at the free throw line to bolster his evening total of 20 points).
Most of all, it could have helped prepare USU more to figure out how to attack UC San Diego’s defense better. Though the fact Utah State couldn’t figure out UC San Diego’s defense a little better is a mystery unto itself, since the Tritons run a similar matchup zone that the Aggies deploy and see in practice every day.
“It’s one of those games you feel helpless as a coach,” Calhoun said. “It doesn’t matter what you call. It’s very, very difficult to execute against this type of defense. And I knew it for 48 hours, and I feel bad I couldn’t help them any better.”
The upcoming games don’t get any easier as Utah State will go on a three-game road trip. First to Saint Mary’s on Sunday, then on to San Diego State and wrapping up with a game in Nevada. It’ll be three straight games that will count as “Quad 1” opponents, a chance for the Aggies to greatly bolster their NCAA Tournament resume, or perhaps go on their first losing streak of the season.
Whatever the future holds, Calhoun said his team knows the standard set at Utah State and what the fans expect, especially after the 10-0 start.
“Losing is unacceptable. There’s a standard here that has been in place. We don’t lose in the spectrum. We don’t lose period. So we’ve got to come out of this understanding we’ve got to have urgency the next three games. It’s a gauntlet. There’s no doubt about it.”
