A full 42 days after Utah State’s initial bout with Fresno State, the two teams will meet again. Much has changed for both of these teams, though many aspects of both teams remain the same. The Aggies remain a contending team in the Mountain West with the Bulldogs as a scrappy underdog that have threatened, though not yet beat, any of the league’s contenders.
Utah State will be debuting its Spectrum Magic jerseys, with design input from sophomore guard Jordy Barnes. Also, every fan in attendance will receive a Spectrum Magic shirt.
What would Spectrum Magic night be without a NEW uniform?!➡️ Fresno State | Feb. 10TICKETS ➡️ https://t.co/AuD4HBPlOM pic.twitter.com/YNLMgUBpq9
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 4, 2026
With that said, here’s all of the necessary info ahead of this game for the Aggies.
How to watch
- Tip-off: 7 p.m. (Mountain Time)
- Location: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (Logan, UT)
- TV Broadcast: MW Network | KMYU
- 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: 6 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.
Projected Starters
Utah State (20-3, 11-2 MW)
- G – Drake Allen (6-5, Sr.) – 5.9 points | 3.1 rebounds | 5.7 assists
- G – Mason Falslev (6-4, Jr.) – 15.3 points | 5.7 rebounds | 2.6 assists
- G – MJ Collins (6-4, Sr.) – 20.6 points | 2.5 rebounds | 2.0 assists
- F – Adlan Elamin (6-9, Fr.) – 3.4 points | 1.1 rebounds | 0.4 assists
- F – Zach Keller (6-10, Sr.) – 2.2 points | 1.4 rebounds | 0.1 assists
Fresno State (11-12, 5-7 MW)
- G – Zaon Collins (6-1, Jr.) – 12.3 points | 3.6 rebounds | 4.7 assists
- G – Jake Heidbreder (6-5, Sr.) – 17.4 points | 2.7 rebounds | 2.4 assists
- G – David Douglas Jr. (6-5, Jr.) – 7.3 points | 1.5 rebounds | 0.2 assists
- F – DeShawn Gory (6-6, Fr.) – 12.2 points | 5.7 rebounds | 1.7 assists
- C – Wilson Jacques (7-0, Fr.) – 7.3 points | 8.3 rebounds | 1.3 assists
Projecting the Bulldogs’ starting five is a bit of a fool’s errand recently. They went with the same group for 13 straight games spanning the start of the season to early January. But in the last eight games, Vance Walberg has opted for a change in his starters between almost every single game. Jake Heidbreder and Wilson Jacques have been the only safe bets to start, with the remaining three spots being divided among Zaon Collins, David Douglas Jr., DeShawn Gory, Cameron Faas and Bastien Rieber.
Utah State and Fresno State Team Stat Ranks Preview (Feb. 10)
Stats and efficiency ratings via KenPom.com, all rankings are out of 365 teams.
| Stat | Utah State | Fresno State |
|---|---|---|
| NET Rank | 25th | 139th |
| Pace Rank | 91st | 161st |
| Offensive Efficiency | 121.4 (31st) | 105.8 (226th) |
| Defensive Efficiency | 99.0 (34th) | 102.6 (66th) |
| 3-Point % | 35.1 (107th) | 32.3 (253rd) |
| 3-Point Attempt Rate | .389 (201st) | .424 (124th) |
| Offensive Rebounding % | 35.6 (44th) | 27.9 (275th) |
| Defensive Rebounding % | 69.7 (159th) | 69.1 (187th) |
| Turnover % | 16.3 (140th) | 19.3 (315th) |
| Opponent Turnover % | 21.5 (17th) | 19.6 (44th) |
Video from today’s media availability with Utah State men’s basketball head coach Jerrod Calhoun and freshman guard Elijah Perryman. pic.twitter.com/vJ74a8TVM6
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) February 9, 2026
Availability Report
The following is drawn from the official availability reports posted by the Mountain West.
UTAH STATE
FRESNO STATE
- DJ Stickman (3.3 pts, 2.7 reb, 1.3 ast) – OUT
- Troy Jenkins – OUT
- Nathan Zulemie – OUT
Utah State starting forward Zach Keller had a brief stay on the injury report after rolling his ankle in the Aggies’ win at New Mexico. But after starting and playing his typical rotation minutes against Wyoming, he’s not at much risk of missing this next game. Fresno State is missing three players for this game, but only one of the three are significant players in the rotation. Troy Jenkins has played six total minutes and Nathan Zulemie hasn’t stepped on the court all year. DJ Stickman has played in 19 of the Bulldogs’ 23 games, averaging 15 minutes in those appearances.
Utah State Keys to Victory
Limit turnovers
This was a key to victory in last games’ preview and it will remain a key for this game for very good reasons. Utah State scored just 72 points, its fifth-lowest point total of the year, and turnovers played a pretty big role in that. The Aggies turned the ball over 20 times, which remains the highest single-game total for them this year. Some back-of-the-envelope math on what USU might have done without that many turnovers suggest they’d have won by nearly 20 points, scoring around 85 and probably holding Fresno State in the high 50s instead of the low 60s.
Utah State isn’t as turnover prone as it was at the time it last faced Fresno State. But the Bulldogs forcing that many turnovers wasn’t an anomaly. They rank 44th in the nation at creating turnovers. And just a few games ago, an elite turnover-creating defense in San Diego State forced the Aggies into 18 giveaways. Utah State won’t stumble into having fewer turnovers in this rematch. It has to be deliberately focussed on.
Dominate the paint
Fresno State is one of the best 3-point defense teams in the country, holding Division I opponents to 28.8% from three this season. The Aggies were no exception to that great defense, shooting only 25% (5 of 20) against the Bulldogs back in December. The trick, however, is that Fresno State is not a particularly good defensive team in the paint. While they rank seventh in 3-point field goal percentage defense, they are 320th in 2-point field goal percentage defense and 344th in block percentage. Teams that get into the paint have often scored with relative ease and Calhoun said he hopes the Aggies will be able to do that on Tuesday.
“It’s all about re-spacing. When we set the pick and roll, we get throwbacks or throw-aheads. We’ve got to create that next advantage,” Calhoun said, adding later, “I think that’s where you get (Fresno State). If you can get to the rim, because they’re really good in the shot clock. The start of the shot clock, they’re at the elbows and the blocks and then they do a tremendous job of inching out.”
Alongside paint scoring, another big factor will be rebounding (as it almost always is in basketball games). Fresno State are rather low in offensive rebounding rate, but managed nine such boards against the Aggies, tied for the most the Bulldogs have had in any conference game this season. Utah State has been much better of late on the glass and keeping it that way will go quite a ways toward a comfortable victory.
Keep a close eye on Heidbreder
Jake Heidbreder is one of the highest scoring players in the conference and is absolutely critical to everything Fresno State wants to do on offense. He also plays nearly every minute of every game, averaging a league-leading 37.1 minutes per game.
“It seems like he doesn’t wear down. It seems like he would be an incredible runner,” Calhoun said. But whether it’s MJ (Collins) on him. Mason on him, Adlan (Elamin), whoever, Kolby (King), (Elijah Perryman), we got to know where (Heidbreder) is at all times. As soon as he gets in the gym, the kid can really score the ball. And the thing that I like, he doesn’t take bad shots.”
As Calhoun noted, Heidbreder is capable of going off in terms of scoring, with eight games of 20+ points this season. And Fresno State greatly benefits from these scoring bursts. When Heidbreder scores at least 23, they’re 5-1, the only loss being by one point to Nevada. He had 21 against they Aggies, though he needed 19 shots to get there, showing a mix of results for USU in its defense against him.
Computer Prediction Scores
- KenPom — Utah State win 81-64
- Haslametrics — Utah State win 81-64
- EvanMiya — Utah State win 82-66
