LOGAN — In its toughest Mountain West contest thus far, Utah State showed yet again it knows how to grind out wins, not just blitz their opponents into submission. When Nevada threw some of its best punches at the Aggies, they threw haymakers right back. In the end, it led to a 71-62 victory for USU on a Wednesday evening at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Nevada had its worst shooting percentage of the season, making only 34.4% of their shots all night and the 62 points being a season-low. Utah State put the clamps on from the very start, holding the Wolf Pack to just 2-for-12 from the field in the opening minutes.
“The story tonight, the headline should be our defense,” Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “We held a really good team to 62 points when we had a bad night (on offense). We couldn’t do that last year. So, we’ve made a lot of strides.”
Utah State found new ways to make their presence known on defense. This year they’ve not been much of a shot-blocking team despite defending the paint fairly well. But on Wednesday they were elite shot-swatters as they sent back eight into the face of Nevada attackers. Adlan Elamin had three, a career-high which also made him the first Utah State freshman with a three-block game since Neemias Queta. Karson Templin (three blocks) and Drake Allen (two) both tied their career high in shots blocked.
Nevada even committed 14 turnovers, the second-highest amount of times it’s coughed up the ball and first time the Wolf Pack have eclipsed 10 turnovers since November.
“We were a little bit antsy the last three days because how are we going to be able to create steals when they don’t dribble that much?” Calhoun said. “To get 14 and not get impatient because we like to steal the ball and get out and play fast, I thought the guys did a good job.”
The only rough patch for Utah State on defense was rebounding. Nevada rounded up a near-season-best 16 offensive rebounds. But even that hole got patched as the Wolf Pack scored a measley three second-chance points despite the volume of second chances.
Such a defensive performance was very much needed as Utah State had a rare slow night scoring-wise. The efficiency wasn’t poor, averaging 1.164 points per possession and shooting 44.9% from the field. Most of what was lacking was the polish on offense that had led USU to average 92.0 points per game in Mountain West play prior to this week (hence the earlier comment by Calhoun about a “bad night”).
Because of the at times sluggish offense, Utah State couldn’t pull away from Nevada even when the latter made just two field goals in the first seven minutes of the game. When Nevada finally strung together a few made shots it took the lead, 15-14 and the middle portion of the first half ended up comprising of the two sides trading the lead. Eight times the lead swapped hands in the final 12 minutes of the opening half.
Utah State closed the half on a 7-0 run and took a 29-23 advanage into the break but saw that plus margin evaporate soon after the teams came back from halftime. Nevada outscored the home team 11-2 to take a 34-31 lead and held the lead for a decent chunk of the first part of the second half.
With just over 12 minutes to play, Corey Camper Jr. went on a personal 5-0 run for Nevada, hitting a layup and then a 3-pointer right in front of the HURD on the sideline. That put the Wolf Pack up 44-40, and to celebrate the senior guard held up three fingers to the crowd to remind them of the triple he just hit.
The HURD didn’t take the taunt lying down, nor did Utah State.
After going down four points with 12 to play, the Aggies locked in. Over the next five minutes, Nevada didn’t hit a single field goal. It didn’t even score for three minutes as Utah State threw down a kill shot, a 10-0 run that put it up 50-44. MJ Collins capped the run with a 3-pointer which was also a four-point trip down the court thanks to an offensive rebound on a missed free throw.
The Zach Keller tap-out leads to an MJ 3 🔥10-0 Aggie run#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/JYWJNlZrZ3
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 15, 2026
Even then, the job wasn’t done. Nevada later offered up another rally attempt with Elijah Price recording his own solo 5-0 burst that made it a 54-51 game. Utah State again had a response.
Two great defensive plays helped spur a 7-0 Aggies run. MJ Collins hit a pair of free throws to get it started and then Mason Falslev tipped a pass that culminated in a 3-pointer for Elamin. Seconds later, Templin erased a dunk attempt from Peyton White which led to a transition layup for Falslev. That made it a 10-point game, 61-51.
𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 🙌#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/3hy5acPFx0
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 15, 2026
That layup from Falslev accounted for two of his 17 second-half points. He ended the night with 26 points, a season high for him and two points off his career high. The junior guard also had the first seen points of the game for Utah State as he was their lifeblood on offense from the beginning to the very end.
“Definately helps, that first bucket goes through. It’s kind of like, ‘Okay, I can do this,'” Falslev said of getting those early points. “And when you get a few to go, I mean, you never want to relax, but it just gives you a sense of security. So it felt good.”
The Aggies now advance to 15-1 on the season and 5-0 in Mountain West play, remaining in a tie for first place in the conference with San Diego State, which also won on Wednesday in a game at Wyoming. Utah State’s next test will be against Grand Canyon, though. The Lopes have started their conference slate with a 3-2 record and will host the No. 23 Aggies on Saturday for what will be just the fourth game all time in which a ranked team visits GCU.
