LEXINGTON, KY — History repeated itself on Thursday night in Utah State’s 72-47 loss to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Back in 2001, the Aggies lost by 25 points, 75-50, in the second round of the Big Dance in what was the second-worst offensive performance in an NCAA Tournament game in program history (lowest is 39 points in 1939). On Thursday, Utah State lost by 25 points yet again and set a new low for tournament game points in the modern era.
The opening minutes seemed to promise the energetic and highly effective USU team that was featured for much of the 26-win season. But the energy just simply didn’t last and an offense that ranked 17th in the country according to KenPom adjusted efficiency couldn’t get off the ground. Utah State made just 4 of 31 threes (12.9 percent), which is the third-worst 3-point shooting performance in team history (minimum 20 attempts), and that awful night seemed to doom the team more than most other issues that cropped up.
“(UCLA) did a good job of pressuring us,” USU guard Mason Falslev said. “It’s hard to make threes when you’re rushed and they just didn’t fall, unfortunately, tonight. And we’ve got to live with that.”
Such poor 3-point shooting didn’t appear to be in the cards at the start of the game. Mason Falslev and Tucker Anderson both hit triples in the first two minutes of the game. The problem for the Aggies lay in the next 18 attempts, which were all misses. Nearly 23 full minutes came off the game clock between USU’s second and third made 3-pointers of the evening.
Utah State’s defense took much longer to see a drop-off. UCLA were initially not fully ready to deal with the Aggies’ zone defense, not able to work the ball into its great post scorers Tyler Bilodeau and Eric Dailey Jr. With the Bruins struggling to put together any stretches of great offense, a cold-shooting USU squad was able to be within two points, 27-25 with just over four minutes left in the first half.
That’s when the Bruins finally found the chink in the Aggies’ armor and rattled off a 12-0 run. Backup center Aday Mara played a large factor in the offensive push. The 7-foot-3 Spanish big-man scored 10 points off the bench forcing the Aggies to send extra help when he touched the ball in the post, with neither Karson Templin or Aubin Gateretse able to stifle post-ups one-on-one. When USU’s defense collapsed on Mara, it created opportunities elsewhere on the floor. The Bruins shot 55.2 percent in the first half, leading to a 39-27 halftime advantage. Mara also had five blocks, causing significant chaos in USU’s offense.
“Obviously really hard to defend a 7-3 guy, especially when they kind of got into rhythm,” Aggies graduate guard Ian Martinez said. “Definitely heavy impact on the offense and defensively as well just a lot of length. Sometimes when you don’t feel that he’s that close he’s probably still pretty close on blocking shots, even a jumper.”
UCLA didn’t end up needing Mara in the second-half, though, with the center playing just six minutes. Utah State would suffer a slow demise all the same. The Bruins had an unexpectedly good shooting performance, especially from three, making 10 of 24 attempts from distance.
Utah State’s Mason Falslev (12) shoots near UCLA’s Kobe Johnson (0) during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Lexington, Ky., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
At least one player, Mason Falslev fought to keep the Aggies in the game. He nearly had a first-half double-double (13 points, nine rebounds) and finished the night leading the team in points (17), rebounds (10) and tied for the team-lead in assists (three).
“I just didn’t want to lose,” Falslev said. “Was trying to crash every board. Doing everything I could to help us. I got to get in better shape. Be able to make shots when I’m tired.”
“Falslev is first or second on my list (of players) that I’ve ever associated with,” USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “The kid just competes. My heart’s hurting’ for him because I thought he went out the right way. When you’re gonna lose, you got to go out the right way. And he went out as a fierce competitor.”
As Falslev alluded to, his stellar effort wasn’t without blemish as he shot just 6 of 17 from the field and was 1 for 6 from three. Adding to that fact is most of his teammates couldn’t muster any help. Falslev’s co-star this season, Martinez, scored a season-low two points on 1 of 11 shooting. Deyton Albury was the only other USU player in double figures as he had 12 points, seven rebounds. Three of the Aggies’ starters — Martinez, Anderson and Karson Templin — combined for just nine points and the bench contributed only nine points as a whole.
Without that help, UCLA’s lead gradually grew, from 12 at halftime, up to 16 a few minutes into the second half, then to 20 nearing the halfway points of the latter frame and eventually as high as 26 points.
The defeat ends Utah State’s season, capping the year to a final record of 26-8. A promising start, though a less-than-stellar final month to the year. Nevertheless, it’s a third consecutive season with at least 26 wins.
“Most seasons never end the way you want them to. Let’s just call it like it is,” Calhoun said. “Certainly, we didn’t want to get beat the way we did, but I want to credit our seniors and certainly Mason competed at a really, really high level. Aggie Nation obviously is hurting tonight, but this this group really overcame a lot in a very short period of time. So we’re gonna keep our heads up high.”
