Utah State’s Darius Brown II dribbles the ball past Fresno State’s Jalen Weaver during overtime in an NCAA college basketball game in Fresno, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) Photos by Gary Kazanjian / Associated Press Photo Gallery sponsored by The Logo Shop, your source for teams, businesses and booster clubs. Visit http://welogostuff.mypromohq.com/ Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery Utah State’s Great Osobor puts up a shot against Fresno State’s Leo Colimerio during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Fresno, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) Utah State’s Great Osobor, center, grabs a loose ball from Fresno State’s Isaiah Pope during overtime in an NCAA college basketball game in Fresno, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) Utah State’s Great Osobor, center, grabs a loose ball from Fresno State’s Isaiah Pope during overtime an NCAA college basketball game in Fresno, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) Utah State’s Josh Uduje, right, defends against Fresno State’s Isaiah Pope during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Fresno, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) Utah State coach

Utah State’s Darius Brown II motions to the crowd after hitting a 3-pointer against Fresno State during overtime in an NCAA college basketball game in Fresno, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian) Darius Brown hit five field goals for Utah State in its Tuesday night 77-73 overtime win over Fresno State. His 15 points weren’t all that remarkable as seven other players on the night reached at least that same total. But all five were badly needed, especially his final two attempts of the evening. The Aggies should never have needed clutch play from anyone in its mid-week matchup with Fresno State. The Bulldogs were ninth in the Mountain West standings, the Aggies first. FSU were on a three-game losing streak and missing two starters and a third key rotation player due to injury, USU coming off a week’s rest and a massive win over San Diego State that rocketed the team back into the AP Poll. And yet, with 7.5 seconds left in the game, the Bulldogs led 65-62, a pair of Xavier DuSell free throws having extended the home team’s lead. Brown, unfazed by the daunting task ahead of him, took the inbound pass, hurried up

With its most difficult regular season games behind it, Utah State begins a four-game finale to conference play where it’ll face the bottom three teams in the conference. Tonight, that means Fresno State, a team on a three-game losing streak. Since the Aggies hold a firm grip on first place in the standings, they’re in great position to end up with at least a share of the regular season Mountain West title. But the work still needs to be done and done well. One only need look three days into the past to find an example of a catastrophic loss, as New Mexico allowed itself to be defeated at home by last-place Air Force. Such a loss would upend USU’s hopes of a full share of the conference title and potentially put getting a share of the title in jeopardy. The Bulldogs’ most recent loss in their three-game skid was a 32-point home shellacking at the hands of San Diego State. FSU scored a season-low 41 points. But that’s not something USU head coach Danny Sprinkle wants to focus on and assume Tuesday’s contest will be an easy one. “We’re going to get their best shot,” Sprinkle said. “They didn’t