LOGAN – A mere two weeks after losing to UNLV, Utah State got its chance to avenge what remains just the second loss of the season. Back on Jan. 15, the Aggies had sickness working its way through the roster and it had an impact on the eventual loss. But the Rebels proved on Wednesday they’re just as capable of going toe-to-toe with a healthy USU squad as they fought through multiple double-digit deficits to make it a close game in the final moments of the eventual 76-71 Utah State victory.
“I thought UNLV was really good again. Two crazy games against them. Went right down to the wire again. We made just a few more plays than them,” Calhoun said. “There’s gonna be nights where you got to win ugly. And tonight was one of those nights.”
A 13-0 run by the Aggies in the middle of the first half created a cushion that would last for much of the game. They hit four 3-pointers in that run (five in a span of five minutes), putting the visiting Rebels — who shot just 34 percent in the first half — on their back foot. Drake Allen, who’s struggle with his outside shot this year (25 percent on 3-pointers) hit a pair of triples during that first half run. He would add a third in the second half to mark the first time this year he’s made three deep shots in a single game.
Those early 3-pointers would end up being most of the downtown production the Aggies would get all night. After a 6 of 10 start from distance, they’d go 3 for their next 15. It was a crash down to reality for USU. Over the last four games, and including that hot start, the Aggies had made 53 of 108 threes (49.1 percent). But that golden tough simply wasn’t going to hang around forever.
Utah State still took a nine point lead into halftime, but coming out of that break, that advantage wouldn’t hang around without a serious fight.
Most of the second half was a jump between the Aggies building their lead and the Rebels shaving it down. UNLV cut USU’s lead to just four points a couple minutes into the second half. That’s when Allen struck again, hitting an and-one layup and a 3-pointer to push the advantage up to nine points again. The Rebels then got even closer, drawing to within three points, only for the Aggies to splurge yet again with a 10-2 run that gave them an 11-point lead with eight minutes left.
And that’s where things began to get a little sketchy for Utah State.
For nearly the entire game, up to the point in which USU took that late 11-point advantage, it’d led. UNLV had taken a 2-0 lead by making the first basket, but from the moment Ian Martinez hit a 3-pointer to put Utah State up, the game remained comfortably in favor of the home side for more than a half hour of game time.
But over the next two minutes and 32 seconds, UNLV threw that comfort out the doors of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum with a 12-1 run.
A handful of things aided the Rebels in closing the gap over and over and eventually tying the game. First and foremost, Dedan Thomas. He scored just eight points against USU last time out and was also fresh off a game where he missed a clutch free throw that would have sent UNLV and New Mexico to overtime, but on Wednesday the sophomore star scored 22 points and had six assists to just one turnover to lead all players on both sides in both of those categories.
“He’s a good player. I mean, he’s really good,” Calhoun said. “He’s a top three point guard in our league. He’s right at the top of the list. He’s shifty. He can get to his right shoulder, really downhill quick. Gets that left hand really, really fast. Did a great job on him a couple of weeks ago in Vegas. He missed a free throw the other night to send it to overtime. We knew, I knew he’d come in here hunting. I knew here he’d be hungry and he played great. He’s really good.”
The Rebels also caused issues with four guard lineups with lots of dribble penetration offense. It made keeping in front of UNLV quite the difficult task. It only got harder with the way the referees called the game. A total of 44 fouls were called, 23 on UNLV and 21 on Utah State. Jalen Hill and Dedan Thomas accounted for most of the free throws, combining to go 13 of 15 at the charity stripe. Finding the sweet spot between tight defense and fouling was an adjustment the Aggies had to make mid-game.
“Coach always talks about us adjusting to the way the refs are calling the game,” Albury said. “Sometimes refs may allow a little hand-check hand there, and some refs don’t allow it at all. So it’s just feeling out with the refs, how they’re calling, and just adjusting to it.”
So, with 5:50 on the clock, the game was tied 56-all. For the first time in a while, the real potential for a loss loomed over the Aggies and the suddenly more mellow crowd. Most worrying is that it began to hold a similar feel to the last game. Utah State held a lead late in that one, but UNLV closed the game on a 12-2 run to steal the win. Would this game end in similar fashion?
No, but Utah State also didn’t make it look pretty down the stretch.
What was pretty was the 13-3 run the Aggies went on in the four minutes following the tie game. Mason Falslev kicked off the run by hitting a 3-pointer. It was the first one the team had made in 10 minutes of game time and also the first field goal they’d made in nearly four minutes. Deyton Albury then took over the scoring load, hitting a pair of free throws, getting a steal and going coast-to-coast for a layup, and finally hitting a corner 3-pointer.
Big time shot from Deyton Albury 👌@USUBasketball pic.twitter.com/nYknFRNoFv
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 30, 2025
Albury finished the game with a team-best 16 points in just 21 minutes on the court. He also had five rebounds, a pair of assists and three steals. The impact of Allen and his fellow point guard Allen, who contributed 15 points, could hardly be understated.
“(Albury) has the ability to play athletic Go from one end of the court to the other in about three seconds. He’s one of the fastest players in the country,” Calhoun said. “Drake and I had a really good meeting and our video coordinator did a nice job Putting an edit together on Drake and for Dex too. They’ve been the guys that have brought the most energy. That’s all we’re asking for right now is bring energy, whether it’s practice or it’s into the games.”
That 13-3 run effectively won the game for the Aggies, especially since the final 90 seconds of the game was a bit of rough watch. They missed seven free throws in that time span, coming within spitting distance of allowing UNLV a miracle comeback. But Utah State got enough stops to ensure that didn’t happen.
Despite some of those big runs by the offense, it ended up being the defense and rebounding that marked the biggest difference between Wednesday’s win and the Jan. 15 loss. The Aggies found ways to limit some of the players who’d been pests two weeks ago. Julian Rishwain hit four 3-pointers, including a clutch one that pushed UNLV ahead, in the previous game. Hill also went 7 of 9 in that game with 15 points. On Wednesday, those two players combined to shoot 6 for 21 and committed seven turnovers between them. Hill and Rishwain would still end up combining for 22 points (largely thanks to Hill’s time at the free throw line), but their relative inefficiency to the previous game helped make the difference.
Another big key was that while Thomas had 22 points, he scored just three of those in the final seven minutes. His one turnover occurred during USU’s late run to take its commanding lead.
This win, warts and all, puts Utah State into a tie for first place in the Mountain West with New Mexico with both teams having only one loss in conference play. The Lobos had held a half game lead for about a week having played an extra game, and thus having an extra win. The two teams will face off on Saturday in the Spectrum in a game that will decide which team holds lone control over first place, potentially for the next month or more.
