Most nights, converting only one field goal attempt in the final four minutes against San Diego State would signify a loss for any Mountain West Conference opponent, especially for a team that has struggled from the free-throw for much of the season.
But toeing the line was anything but Utah State’s Achilles heel Saturday night against the Aztecs.
After falling behind by four points with 3:42 remaining, the Aggies closed out the contest with a 14-2 run, thanks primarily to an 11-for-11 performance from the free-throw line.
Utah State’s 79-71 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 10,270 at the Spectrum secured the regular-season sweep of the conference’s perennial powerhouse program.
“I’ll be able to sleep tonight because I won’t be getting direct messages about whether or not we should keep the crowd down during free throws and those sorts of things,” USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “But that’s credit to their hard work, and not giving up on it.
“You know, I haven’t shot free throws at shootaround all year long,” Calhoun added. “But I went to the free-throw line today against (center) Aubin (Gatereste), and I went 10-for-10. They were laughing, but I said, ‘I think you’re going to make everyone of them tonight,’ and they only missed six.”
Utah State (24-4 overall, 14-3 in the Mountain West) ended up going 26-for-32 (81.3%) from the free throw line, with senior guard Deyton Albury leading the way with a 12-for-13 performance.
Coupled with graduate guard Dexter Akanno’s career-high seven 3-pointers and career-best 26 points, the second-place Aggies were able to secure the win and pull within a half-game of idle first-place New Mexico (22-5, 14-2).
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and I just thank God that were able to pull it out today,” Akanno said of facing the Aztecs (18-7, 11-5).
A transfer from Oregon State, Akanno went 7-for-9 from 3-point range and 9-of-12 from the floor overall. Akanno, Albury and graduate guard Ian Martinez all managed to complete Saturday’s game with four fouls, and Albury and Martinez both finished with 18 points.
Martinez, whose 3-pointer with 3:23 left was Utah State’s final field goal of the night, went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line to leave him a perfect 34-for-34 from the charity stripe since going a highly uncharacteristic 2-for-7 in the Aggies’ 19-point loss to the Lobos on Feb. 1.
Albury, meanwhile, came into Saturday’s showdown having made only 62.7% of his free throws this season, but the transfer from Queens University of Charlotte completed two key 3-point plays in the second half and then went for 4-for-4 from the line down the stretch.
While Martinez scored just above his season average, Akanno and Albury’s offensive outputs were vital for the Aggies, who got just one field goal and three points from second-leading scorer Mason Falslev, though the 6-foot-3 guard still pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to help the Aggies win the battle of the boards, 38-30.
“We outrebounded them by eight, and there’s a big size difference between us and them, right? I mean, you can see it,” Calhoun pointed out. “So I give our guys a lot of credit for the physicality, the rebounding and for ball security. We only had seven turnovers, and they’re one of the best teams in the country at turning you over.”
Utah State, which pulled out a 67-66 victory at San Diego State on Dec. 28, won Saturday despite shooting just 41.2% from the field against the always defensive-minded Aztecs.
Akanno and Martinez combined to go 10-for-15 from 3-point range, while the rest of the team was just 1-for-12 from long range.
San Diego State was down by as many as 14 points in the first half, trailed 33-26 at halftime and was in an eight-point hole midway through the second half, but Brian Dutcher’s team has rallied back from double-digit leads in several games this season, and the Aztecs, sparked by senior guard Nick Boyd, suddenly went on a 20-8 tear to go ahead 69-65 with under four minutes remaining.
“There was a lot of screaming, to be honest with you,” Calhoun said of the Aggies’ worst five minutes of the night. “I was really disappointed in that stretch. ... I thought Boyd was just having his way, so I called those two timeouts, and we switched our ball-screen defense.
“I told coach (Eric) Haut I’m not watching this anymore, and we honestly changed it and it worked.”
Boyd led San Diego State with 15 points, while sophomore guard BJ Davis added 14 points before fouling out with just under three minutes remaining.
Sophomore guard Miles Byrd, SDSU’s leading scorer at 12.9 points per game, went just 2-for-12 from the field and 1-for-9 from 3-point range on his way to scoring eight points.
Overall, the Aztecs shot 44.2% from the floor, 10-for-30 (33.3%) from 3-point range and 15-for-22 (68.2%) from the free-throw line.
“We were dead even at halftime on free throws, and then they shot 10 more than us in the second half, and that cost us,” Dutcher said. “Too many points from the line, 26 points from the line versus 15.
“We played gutty, we played tough, but there’s no consolation. We have to win the game. Now we bounce back. We can’t dwell on it. We have the first-place team in the league in our place on Tuesday, and we have to do everything in our power to get ready for that game.”
San Diego State will likely have to face New Mexico Tuesday without the services of starting forward Magoon Gwath. The 7-foot redshirt freshman went down with a knee injury less than three minutes into the game Saturday while playing defense and had to be helped off the court and into the training room.
He eventually returned on crutches but never got back in the game.
“I’ve gotten three calls in the last two days from NBA scouts about (Gwath), so him not playing obviously impacted their team,” Calhoun said. “I hope for his sake, first and foremost, and for their team, that he gets healthy. He’s a wonderful player, but they’ve got a lot of star power.
“This is a very talented team. For us to play through a little fatigue, a little bit of offensive struggle throughout the game and to hold them to 71 points is why we won the game.”
Saturday’s victory marked the first time the Aggies have swept a home-and-home series from the Aztecs since joining the Mountain West.
Utah State beat San Diego State twice during the 2020-21 season, but both of those contests were in the Spectrum due to the altered COVID-19 schedule.
After Saturday’s game, Calhoun, who is off to one of the best starts in program history for a first-year head coach, was asked about early rumors of him going elsewhere.
The Aggies, who lost their previous coach, Danny Sprinkle, to Washington after just one season, are understandably gun shy about losing yet another coach following an abbreviated stay in Cache Valley.
Calhoun said he and USU athletic director Diana Sabau started talking about a potential contract extension after the Aggies started the season 10-0, and they’ve continued to have conversations.
“Obviously, we’ve now had a president change,” Calhoun said, referencing Utah State president Elizabeth Cantwell’s recent departure for Washington State, “but we’re in the process of trying to work out a long-term deal right now, to be honest with you.
“... I like where we’re at, and I like Diana’s leadership in this department.”