Utah State remains one of 20 undefeated teams in college basketball and will aim to retain that status this evening despite facing its first opponent in a true road game. The Aggies have played three games away from the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, and won them by a combined 58 points, but this will be the first truly hostile environment. A tough South Florida team waits to welcome Utah State to its home court and seek revenge for an 88-67 defeat last year.
Here’s all of the necessary info ahead of this next game for Utah State.
How to watch
- Tip-off: 5 p.m. (Mountain Time)
- Location: Yuengling Center (Tampa, FL)
- TV Broadcast: ESPN+
- Radio Broadcast: KVNU (102.1 FM, 610 AM) / kvnutalk.com / KVNU mobile app
KVNU Aggie GameDay pregame show with Stockton Jewkes and J.D. Walker: 4 p.m.
KVNU Aggie Call: Immediately after Coach Calhoun’s post-game comments
- Text (435) 554-1175 or call (435) 753-5868 during the pregame or postgame show to give your thoughts and reactions for the game.
Availability Report
Utah State and South Florida currently have no players expected to miss the upcoming game due to injury.
Projected Starters
Utah State (7-0)
- G – Drake Allen (6-5, Sr.) – 6.0 points | 2.7 rebounds | 7.5 assists
- G – Mason Falslev (6-4, Jr.) – 13.7 points | 5.4 rebounds | 2.0 assists
- G – MJ Collins (6-4, Sr.) – 21.3 points | 2.7 rebounds | 2.0 assists
- F – Tucker Anderson (6-9, Jr.) – 4.7 points | 1.7 rebounds | 1.0 assists
- F – Karson Templin (6-8, Jr.) – 9.9 points | 4.3 rebounds | 1.0 assists
South Florida (4-4)
- G – CJ Brown (6-2, So.) – 14.1 points | 4.0 rebounds | 5.3 assists
- G – Wes Enis (6-2, Jr.) – 12.5 points | 2.5 rebounds | 1.5 assists
- G – Josh Omajafo (6-5, Sr.) – 15.3 points | 5.0 rebounds | 2.6 assists
- G – Joseph Pinion (6-5, Sr.) – 13.5 points | 3.4 rebounds | 1.3 assists
- F – Izaiyah Nelson (6-10, Sr.) – 12.6 points | 9.3 rebounds | 1.8 blocks
Utah State and South Florida Team Stat Ranks Preview
Pace and offense/defense efficiency ratings via Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. All rankings are out of 365 teams.
| Stat | Utah State | South Florida |
|---|---|---|
| NET Rank | 19 | 78 |
| Pace Rank | 117th | 8th |
| Offensive Efficiency | 118.9 (35th) | 112.8 (88th) |
| Defensive Efficiency | 100.3 (50th) | 104.3 (105th) |
| 3-Point % | 36.2 (84th) | 31.0 (263rd) |
| 3-Point Attempt Rate | .372 (227th) | .439 (102nd) |
| Offensive Rebounding % | 34.5 (121st) | 37.5 (56th) |
| Total Rebounding % | 55.0 (71st) | 51.7 (168th) |
| Turnover % | 15.0 (191st) | 12.4 (52nd) |
| Opponent Turnover % | 19.4 (34th) | 19.0 (41st) |
Game Preview
There’s a very solid team hidden under South Florida’s mediocre 4-4 record, rather similar in ways to the Montana State team that gave the Aggies fits last time out. The Bulls’ four losses have all been Quad 1 or Quad 2 games, with losses to George Washington (51 in NET), Oklahoma State (52), VCU (54) and Colorado State (64). With the exception of the game against Colorado State, which ended with an 83-68 score, these games were competitive, and all were away from home.
It can be somewhat easy to be fooled by South Florida’s points per game and points allowed per game averages, which might lead one to assume the Bulls are a high-scoring team with bad defense since they’ve scored 91.4 points per game this year (20th nationally) and given up 82.5 (329th). But the defense deserves some credit as it’s actually fairly close in effectiveness to the team’s offense.
The Bulls’ pace of play factors heavily into how many points they score and how many they give up. Their games have featured an average of 73.2 possessions, 12th-most of any team in the country. Factoring in pace, South Florida’s defense is close to, and by some metrics better than, its offense. KenPom has USF 88th in offense and 105th in defense with Haslemetrics actually ranking the defense higher at 97th with the offense at 107th.
Today’s press conference with USU basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun, looking ahead to South Florida with some retrospective of the Montana State game pic.twitter.com/uhNni4vxiw
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) December 1, 2025
Monday’s press conference interview with Mason Falslev. pic.twitter.com/T0nXLfHthV
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) December 3, 2025
In reality, South Florida’s defense plays a big role in its offense. The blazing pace comes largely from creating chaos on defense through turnovers and then finishing quickly with points on the other end. USF rank eighth in the nation in terms of quickest offensive possession, with an average of just 14.4 seconds per trip down the court. Much of that average has to do with how often the Bulls force live-ball turnovers and generate short possessions from those as they rank 23rd in the nation in steal percentage.
This propensity for creating turnovers via steals is actually a similarity South Florida shares with Utah State, as the Aggies actually rank second nationally in steal percentage and owe quite a bit of its offensive efficiency to that defense. With both teams coming into the game with this strength, which side is able to dictate their will to a greater degree becomes a key storyline.
South Florida appear poised to be capable of handling Utah State’s pressure as the Bulls ranks a solid 52nd in turnover percentage. And the four-guard lineups USF head coach Bryan Hodgson routinely rolls out help prevent sloppy passes or ball-handling, as most players in any given five-man unit will be effective with the ball in their hand. Utah State, meanwhile, has some work to do. The Aggies rank 191st in turnover percentage, but are improving. After averaging 13.0 turnovers per game in the first four outings of the season, USU has cut that down to a 10.3 average in the last three games.
One particularly tough challenge for Utah State will be navigating the paint. South Florida forward Izaiyah Nelson has the length and athleticism to be a pain around the rim. The 6-foot-10 senior has averaged 1.8 blocks per game, and with Utah State ranking 305th in the nation at having their shots blocked, there’s some concern on their end. The Aggies have largely managed to overcome that niche weakness against everyone else, ranking 50th in points per shot at the rim, but this will be a tougher challenge than the rest of their opponents.
Provided these two teams shoot the ball efficiently, expect a high-scoring game as neither side is going to slow things down. There could also be some massive swings in momentum as both teams are capable of big scoring runs because of their ability to create turnovers and capitalize on said turnovers.
Computer Prediction Scores
- KenPom — Utah State win 84-79
- Haslametrics — Utah State win 83-78
- EvanMiya — Utah State win 83-80
