Utah State has gotten itself back on a winning streak thanks to back-to-back wins against Colorado State and Wyoming. But those squads are middling teams in the conference. The Aggies must now take on the team that took over their spot at the top of the Mountain West standings: San Diego State. The Aztecs are one game ahead with a 9-1 record in conference play to Utah State’s 8-2. A win by the Aggies would force a tie at the top (with a tiebreaker to USU for the time being) while a win for SDSU would mean a commanding lead as they’d have wins over both second place and third place teams (USU and New Mexico).
Here’s all of the necessary info ahead of this crucial battle for supremacy in the Mountain West.
How to watch
- Tip-off: Jan. 31, 2026 at 11 a.m. (Mountain Time)
- Location: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (Logan, UT)
- TV Broadcast: CBS
- 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: 10 a.m.
KVNU Aggie Call: Immediately after Coach Jerrod 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.
Projected Starters
Utah State (16-3, 7-2 MW)
- G – Drake Allen (6-5, Sr.) – 6.4 points | 2.9 rebounds | 5.1 assists
- G – Mason Falslev (6-4, Jr.) – 16.5 points | 5.9 rebounds | 2.6 assists
- G – MJ Collins (6-4, Sr.) – 19.3 points | 2.4 rebounds | 1.4 assists
- F – Adlan Elamin (6-9, Fr.) – 6.6 points | 2.4 rebounds | 0.6 assists
- F – Zach Keller (6-10, Sr.) – 2.3 points | 1.9 rebounds | 0.3 assists
San Diego State (15-5, 9-1 MW)
- G – BJ Davis (6-1, Jr.) – 10.9 points | 3.3 rebounds | 2.4 assists
- G – Reese Dixon-Waters (6-5, Sr.) – 11.5 points | 3.9 rebounds | 1.6 assists
- G – Miles Byrd (6-7, Jr.) – 11.0 points | 4.2 rebounds | 2.8 assists
- F – Jeremiah Oden (6-8, Jr.) – 5.0 points | 2.9 rebounds | 0.5 assists
- F – Miles Heide (6-9, Jr.) – 5.6 points | 4.9 rebounds | 1.1 assists
Utah State and San Diego State Team Stat Ranks Preview (Jan. 31)
Stats and efficiency ratings via KenPom.com, all rankings are out of 365 teams.
| Stat | Utah State | San Diego State |
|---|---|---|
| NET Rank | 25th | 45th |
| Pace Rank | 85th | 80th |
| Offensive Efficiency | 122.1 (30th) | 115.6 (74th) |
| Defensive Efficiency | 101.2 (49th) | 98.0 (20th) |
| 3-Point % | 35.4 (93rd) | 37.7 (26th) |
| 3-Point Attempt Rate | 38.6 (206th) | 32.7 (321st) |
| Offensive Rebounding % | 36.4 (33rd) | 30.4 (194th) |
| Defensive Rebounding % | 67.6 (256th) | 69.4 (161st) |
| Turnover % | 15.8 (103rd) | 18.1 (251st) |
| Opponent Turnover % | 22.2 (8th) | 21.0 (17th) |
Utah State basketball press conference with head coach Jerrod Calhoun and freshman forward Adlan Elamin ahead of the team’s Saturday-morning clash with San Diego State. pic.twitter.com/1sMO6IIkvI
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) January 30, 2026
Availability Report
The following is drawn from the official availability reports posted by the Mountain West. Per-game stats, if applicable, are included in parenthesis.
UTAH STATE
SAN DIEGO STATE
- Magoon Gwath (9.2 pts, 4.3 reb, 1.5 blk) – OUT
- Elzie Harrington (8.4 pts, 2.3 ast) – QUESTIONABLE
The Aztecs will for sure be without center Magoon Gwath but less certain is the status of freshman guard Elzie Harrington. He’s started 14 games this season and been a very good player on the wing for SDSU, averaging 8.4 points and shooting north of 50% from three (albeit on low volume). Head coach Brian Dutcher was non-committal about Harrington’s status for Saturday’s game when asked after SDSU’s win over Colorado State on Wednesday.
Utah State Keys to Victory
Win the battle of turnovers and/or points off turnovers
Both Utah State and San Diego State have strengths and weaknesses that align and revolve around turnovers. The Aggies rank eighth in the nation at forcing turnovers, the Aztecs 17th. On the other hand, USU is a decent 103rd in committing turnovers while SDSU is 251st in ball security. Both teams love to create turnovers but have also been prone to coughing the ball up a lot during a game.
These turnovers not only play a critical role in both of these teams’ defensive capability, but they fuel both offenses as well. In conference play, San Diego State has been only average in its offensive prowess, struggling to make things work in the halfcourt. But they’ve averaged nearly 17 points off turnovers per game against Mountain West teams this year. Utah State hasn’t had as many struggles in the half court, but still rely heavily on points off turnovers, averaging nearly 20 per game in that category.
Whichever team is able to fuel their offense through turnovers the best will probably be the odds-on favorite to win this game.
Don’t get bothered by SDSU’s length
There are a couple of aspects to this. One is with turnovers, which has been explored above already. The other half of the equation comes with interior defense. San Diego State ranks 33rd in the nation in defensive 2-point field goal percentage and 12th in block percentage. And while you’d think not having Gwath in the lineup would significantly hurt the Aztecs, he’s only played 29 minutes across their last three games and yet they are still stifling teams in the paint, allowing opponents to make just 44.2% of 2-pointers. A big reason for that comes from SDSU also having shot-blockers like Miles Byrd and Pharaoh Compton in the lineup who each average one block per game.
Keep the Aztecs from getting (too) hot from three
San Diego State is having one of its best 3-point shooting seasons in the Brian Dutcher era (since 2017), making a hair under 38% of shots from long distance. If Elzie Harrington (53.3% from three) and Magoon Gwath (57.9%) both miss the game, that could hamper the Aztecs a bit, but not incredibly so. Harrington and Gwath combine for less than three 3-point attempts per game. There are still plenty of guys aside from them that can step outside and hit a shot. SDSU is already a dangerous team in terms of finishing inside the paint, they become unstoppable when they begin rolling from downtown.
There have been games where San Diego State has hit a lot of 3-pointers and still lost, such as when they made 11 in a loss to Baylor or the nine they made in their loss to Troy. But for those teams to beat the Aztecs required some incredible offense against the usually very stingy defense. Troy scored 89 points in regulation against SDSU with Baylor putting up 91. The Aztecs haven’t given up more than 79 points in regulation since that Baylor loss with an average of 65.4 points allowed per game.
Computer Prediction Scores
- KenPom — Utah State win 78-72
- Haslametrics — Utah State win 76-70
- EvanMiya — Utah State win 77-70
