With just over seven minutes to play in Reno, Utah State led by eight points with a chance to take a two-game lead in the Mountain West standings. But in the final stretch, the normally clutch Aggies faltered and lost 80-77 to Nevada. Heroic offensive performances from the first half-hour of game time gradually disappeared as crunch time rolled around. Drake Allen, soon to become a father, made a career-best five 3-pointers (and was a perfect 5-for-5 to start the game from distance). Kolby King had 16 points with four made triples of his own. MJ Collins hit a trio of 3-pointers. But those three players missed their final 13 shots collectively, Collins going 0 for his last 6, Allen 0 for his last 5 and King missing his final two shots. The Aggies as a team made 13 threes in the first 23 minutes of the game — most of those by King, Collins and Allen. Those led to Utah State leading for more than 30 minutes of the game and up until the final two minutes. However, those threes dried up as they made only two in the final 17 minutes of regulation. Utah State did fairly well

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Just over 13 months ago, one of the more iconic moments in the history of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum took place. A shot that secured a win over a conference rival and completed a 13-point second-half comeback for Utah State against Boise State. The Aggies and Broncos had both started Mountain West play relatively strong. USU had won all four conference games, including tough matchups at San Diego State and at Nevada. Boise State was 4-1 with the lone loss being to SDSU. Utah State was favored, but it was the Broncos who held control more often, especially when they built a 13-point lead during the second half. Unfazed, USU cut the lead down piece by piece and even took the lead as the final stretch of the game approached. In the last four minutes of the game there were five lead changes, the last two being incredible plays by both teams. As the clock ticked under 30 seconds, it was the Aggies who held a narrow lead, 77-76. Boise State guard Alvaro Cardenas changed that by hitting a 3-pointer with 15 seconds to go to make it 79-77 in favor of the Broncos. “I thought when Cardenas hit