LOGAN – Utah State apparently decided the script from its win over Fresno State last Friday was such a compelling one that it was worth repeating against Colorado State. Even down to the smaller details of leading by 20-plus points in the second half (as high as 24 vs the Bulldogs and 22 vs the Rams) thanks to shooting 60 percent from the field (61.7 on Friday, 59.3 on Tuesday) and then allowing a furious second-half rally to cut the final margin down to eight points (89-81 the final at Fresno State). On a late Tuesday night in Logan, the Aggies won 93-85.
Those details are both good and bad. The obvious good is that the Aggies dominated the competition to such a degree that being outscored by 30 points over the last roughly 12 minutes of both games still led USU nowhere close to the worst-case scenario of losing either game.
Head coach Jerrod Calhoun, for his part, chose to remain entirely positive.
“I’m gonna take a really nice approach,” Calhoun said. “We’re 22-3. Let that sink in. 22-3 with nine new players. So I’m going to be very positive tonight.”
It’s not like Calhoun was dodging a major negative about his team. They won and won in fairly impressive fashion despite facing the best single-half effort from the third place team in the Mountain West.
The how of this win simply came down to a blazing start, featuring red-hot 3-point shooting, forcing turnovers and pinning down a team for most of the game. And using the term “blazing start” is hardly an exaggeration as the Aggies began the game with a complete blitz of Colorado State. The Rams didn’t even have time to settle in. By the time the visitors even attempted their first field goal, USU had an 8-0 lead, courtesy of a couple turnovers by the Rams and three early buckets for the Aggies.
That set the tone in a massive way and got the crowd into the game.
“I think that carried us. Even to the bitter end,” Calhoun said. “We didn’t finish this thing like we wanted, but I think the momentum of that gave us the belief, and we just made a few more plays.”
Colorado State’s nightmare didn’t end with an 8-0 deficit mere seconds into the game. Utah State pushed and pushed the Rams on both sides of the ball, leading to five turnovers in the first six minutes. A 13-0 run by the Aggies joined the early jumpstart, and by the 13-minute mark of the first half, The HURD was chanting “Up by 20.”
“The one thing that we knew was that it might be hard early against that zone,” said CSU head coach Niko Medved. “It’s hard to prepare for on short notice, hard to get a scout team to do. We knew that might take a little time to figure that out. But the one thing that we knew is that we needed to guard and we couldn’t turn the ball over. Well, we didn’t guard very well and we turned the ball over.”
Perhaps the most crippling thing for the Rams was Utah State making each of its first seven 3-point attempts. And most of that shooting and nearly all of the explosion of offense occurred despite USU’s leading scorer, Ian Martinez, sitting on the bench. The graduate guard picked up his second foul less than three minutes into the game. In his stead, Mason Falslev took over. He had 16 of his eventual 22 points in the first half, exemplifying Utah State’s net-igniting shooting by hitting each of his first four 3-point attempts.
That’s 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠-to-𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 triples for The Mayor!
Aggies are 6-for-6 from 3-point range so far tonight pic.twitter.com/5y21DuhScM
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 12, 2025
“I’m really happy for Mason. Just to see him smile again, see the ball go through,” Calhoun said. “He had a phenomenal game. I thought he was really good in a lot of areas, not just scoring, but just impacting the game. His voice was really good in the huddles.”
Falslev was far from the only one getting involved in the offense as every Aggie seemed to be finding their way onto the scoresheet. In that 13-0 run, Dexter Akanno got things going with back-to-back 3-pointers, followed by Falslev hitting a pair of triples in a row, then Karson Templin had consecutive makes at the rim. Every time Colorado State turned, it found another USU player dropping the ball through the net.
In the second half, in particular, Aubin Gateretse got himself involved. He had five points at halftime, but really asserted his will on the Rams’ defense with 11 points in the second. Some of his teammates made buckets on two straight possessions, but the 6-foor-11 center had dunks on back-to-back-to-back plays
Not one, not two, but 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 Aubin dunks in a row 💪@Aubinoooo pic.twitter.com/2SqANnL2JT
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 12, 2025
Gateretse finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists in just under 25 minutes. He also went a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including a couple of and-one finishes.
“It’s always nice to perform, but I think it was more of a team win,” Gateretse said. “Guys found me trying to get open, guys delivered great passes.”
All of this great play culminated in a 22-point lead with 12:20 on the clock. Heck, with 2:20 left in the game the Aggies still lead by 18. But Colorado State refused to lose by double digits. The Rams kept putting up shots, ones that hadn’t fallen for most of the game, but found those same shot finally hitting with great consistency. To this point in the season, CSU hadn’t made more than nine 3-pointers in any game away from its home court. On Tuesday it made 10 in the second half alone (13 for the game).
Despite what was eventually a 55-point half from Colorado State, Utah State could have kept more than the arm’s length away had it made free throws. But, once again, just like at Fresno State, the free throws weren’t falling in the second half. The Aggies were a solid 5 of 7 at the line in the first half, but 12 for 23 in the second half. Six of those misses were in the final 1:40 of the game.
“You got to give Colorado State a ton of credit. They just kept fighting back, making threes,” Calhoun said. “It’s tough when you miss that many free throws, right? You put extreme amount of pressure on your defense, and they’re playing free, right? They’re down 17, 18 points and they’re driving the ball and then as you continue to get to foul line and miss, you have a lot of slippage. I thought we had slippage from the 3-point line continually in the second half. Obviously they scored 55 points. We’ve talked about it, but it’s been a repeat pattern So hopefully just build a bunch big a bunch of leads here in the last six games we’ll be in great shape.”
Still, the lackluster ending didn’t rain on Calhoun’s parade, saying in his post-game presser “one of the most gratifying seasons ever.”
“I’ve been part of a Final Four, Sweet 16, a national runner-up, some really really good good teams, I mean great teams right, like, legendary teams,” Calhoun said. “This team, they understand role identity. They understand we over me. They play the right way. So it’s been it’s been incredible.”
Utah State will take its 22-3 record and put it on the line once again with easily its toughest test since playing at Saint Mary’s in December. The Aggies will take on New Mexico in The Pit in a rematch of a game USU lose by 19 points at home. The game will likely determine (based on New Mexico’s results Wednesday against Wyoming) whether Utah State gets back into a first-place tie in the Mountain West standings, or whether the Lobos will sweep the Aggies and take a nearly insurmountable lead in the race for the regular season title.
