LOGAN — Sitting at the post-game press conference table Wednesday evening, Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun got a bit long-winded, perhaps even a tad fiery, in his comments to the media afterward. He wasn’t upset at the media, but wasn’t happy with how much his players seemed to be paying attention to what’s been written and said online about them.
Calhoun’s squad had just defeated Weber State 83-73, out-scoring the Wildcats by ten in the second half and holding the visitors to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum to no field goals in the final 6:32 of the game. But he felt his team wasn’t in the right mindset for the game.
“I thought we played very entitled and that that’s not how we play basketball right, we don’t take quick shots. We share the ball. We get to the next advantage. We play physical. We get the blockouts. We didn’t do that,” Calhoun said, later continuing, “I think our guys really, really value too many people’s opinions. I hear they say they’re up on social media and they can’t sleep. For what? Who cares what people think of you? You have to be very process driven.”
The most eye-popping stat of the Aggies’ win was that they shot an ice-cold 3-for-23 from 3-point range. It’s a once-in-a-season type of cold spell, the 13% shooting being one of just five times in the last five seasons where Utah State has shot below 15%.
“It was painful, 3 for 23. That’s misery,” Calhoun said. “My teams, I don’t know when the last time we’ve done that. It was tough to watch.”
Utah State made just one field goal in the first five minutes of the game and Weber State took as much advantage of that chilly shooting as it could muster jumping out to a 12-4 lead.
With the starting unit, including stars Mason Falslev and MJ Collins (who combined for 39 points in the last game) began Wednesday’s game shooting a combined 1-for-11, Calhoun had to turn to his bench. And a pair of seniors, guard Kolby King and forward Garry Clark, answered the call.
It was Clark who made the first Aggie field goal of the evening and his scoring punch in the middle of the first half that sparked a rally that loosened Weber State’s control of the game. Utah State outscored the Wildcats by 19 points during the 17 minutes that Clark played throughout the night, which were only shortened to due to foul trouble. Clark would end up with 13 points and five rebounds.
Karson Templin, after a slow start as part of the starting unit where he made just one of his first five shots, picked up his own scoring efforts. He finished with a team-high 16 points, 10 of which came in the latter part of the first half.
“Garry, KT, those kids played really, really hard,” Calhoun said. “They can score the ball around the basket.”
Once it got some semblence of scoring prowess established, Utah State managed to pull ahead by as much as six points in the first half. However, multiple setbacks helped Weber State pull off a short rally of its own. First, Clark went to the bench with his second foul. Then, Drake Allen sprained his ankle going for a rebound. He wouldn’t return the rest of the night and Calhoun said he’s likely out for this Saturday’s game against UTEP.
Facing an unexpected situation, being tied at halftime to a team they were projected to beat by 20 points and, at the time, shooting 0 of 9 from three, the Aggies needed to manufacture offense however they could. The 3-point line wasn’t bringing it, so USU found scoring inside the arc.
Led by Clark and Templin’s efforts, Utah State shot 13 of 19 on 2-pointers in the second half, part of what was eventually 29 of 41 inside the 3-point line all night (and included a 19 of 26 rate on shots at the rim). The Aggies produced 46 points in the paint, overall, and got to the free-throw line 29 times, making a solid 22 of those freebies.
Kolby King brought his best scoring in the second half. He had nine of his 15 points in the latter half, finishing second on the team in points while also leading the team with eight rebounds.
Leaning on inside scoring (and the first made Aggie three of the game early in the second half), Utah State jumped out to its first double-digit lead of the night, 60-50. From that point on, the Wildcats never drew closer than eight points, and even that came in the final 18 seconds with the game largely in hand.
But although Utah State held Weber State at arm’s length, it’d be hard to say the ending was pretty. Neither team made a field goal in the final five minutes of the game. All scoring in the last 6:32 of the evening came by the free throw line. Utah State got the worse end of that deal, handing the Wildcats eight free-throw attempts in those final six-and-a-half minutes.
“We’ve got to clean up the fouling,” Calhoun said. “You put them at the foul line 28 times? It’s ridiculous.”
