LEXINGTON, Kentucky — The empty look in Mason Falslev’s eyes following Thursday night’s game said it all.
In between members of the media asking him questions about Utah State’s season-ending 72-47 loss to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the sophomore guard stared off into the middle distance during the postgame press conference.
So, it came as no surprise when USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun declared: “I told (USU athletic director) Diana (Sabau) there were two kids that couldn’t control it in the locker room, and it was (Falslev) and Karson Templin — two sophomores. So, I think that shows you their competitive spirit, their drive and what the uniform means to them at Utah State.”
Falslev tried to will the 10th-seeded Aggies (26-8) to stay in the game against the No. 10 Bruins (23-10), playing a game-high 37 minutes while also leading all athletes in scoring (17 points) and rebounding (10 boards). But 13 of those points and nine of those rebounds came in the first half, as Falslev clearly wore down as the game progressed while battling against a deep UCLA roster.
“The kid just competes,” Calhoun added. “My heart is hurting for him because he went out the right way. He went out as a fierce competitor, and Aggie Nation knows that. They’ve seen it for two years. The kid is just a warrior.”
The Aggies’ second-leading scorer during the season, Falslev tried to make up for an uncharacteristically bad outing from leading scorer Ian Martinez, who scored just two points in 30 minutes while connecting on just one of his 11 shots.
A Cache Valley native who started on last year’s USU team that beat TCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Falslev said, “I just didn’t want to lose. I was trying to crash every board doing everything I could to help us. I’ve got to get in better shape to be able to make shots when I’m tired, but that’s kind of how the game went.”
“I obviously got a little taste last year with one win,” Falslev added. “And, you know, I was hoping we would get another one and even another one after that. I’m definitely motivated and want to get back here next year and make a run. You know, that’s the dream.”
In addition to Martinez’s worst contest of the season, Dexter Akanno’s late-season offensive falloff continued during Thursday’s game at Rupp Arena. The graduate guard, who was 0 for 4 from the floor and scored just one point in 16 minutes, totaled just 21 points in his final six games as an Aggie after putting up a career-best in a win over San Diego State on Feb. 22.
Akanno and senior forward Aubin Gateretse were displaced in Calhoun’s starting lineup in favor or sophomore Tucker Anderson and Templin, respectively. And that move initially looked good when Anderson buried a 3-pointer 90 seconds into the game to give USU’s it’s one-and-only lead of the game at 6-3. But that ended up being Anderson’s only points, while Templin, battling some larger Bruins as well as ankle and knee injuries, finished with four points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.
“They didn’t make shots. They were going to need to make shots to beat us because they don’t have an interior offense. They don’t have a post-up guy,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said of the Aggies. “Some of that was our defense because, I say this to you all the time, uncomfortable teams shoot a low percentage. And we were able to make them uncomfortable to an extent. And then what happens is, when you do get open, you’re rushing everything.
“... But even with that said, sometimes they just missed some clean looks. That’s just the truth of it. It wasn’t all us.”
The Aggies ended up shooting a season-low 30% for the game, and a season-worst 4 for 31 (12.9%) from 3-point range in the loss.
Afterwards, Calhoun tried to put a positive spin on a season that saw the Aggies win 26 games and finish in third place in the Mountain West during his first season at the helm. But at the same time, it’s been reported that Calhoun will likely interview in the near future for the vacant head coaching position at West Virginia, where he spent six seasons working under Bob Huggins.
At the same time, Sabau told Aggie radio announcer and KSL Sports Zone personality Scott Garrard on Wednesday that she had presented Calhoun with a contract addendum that would make him the second-highest paid coach in the Mountain West after just one season at Utah State.
A month ago, Calhoun divulged in a postgame press conference that he and Sabau had started working on a new deal after Utah State started the season 10-0. That effort likely hit a snag, however, when USU president Elizabeth Cantwell abruptly left the Logan school for Washington State, leaving Utah State with an interim president until probably at least this fall.
“First of all, I have a ton of respect for our athletic director,” Calhoun said. “Diana took a gamble on me. We didn’t know each other, we had no previous relationship and did not know each other at all ... but instantly, we had a connection. And there was a really good plan.
“... And we’ve got five kids coming back that can really play. And I was just offered a tremendous opportunity by Diana and the staff, over the last, really 24 hours.”
“There’s a lot to really digest I think from the season. There is a ton to learn, not only the Mountain West, but what’s the Pac-12 going to look like (in 2026)? What’s Gonzaga going to look like?
— Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun
Calhoun does have a strong recruiting class committed to Utah State for the 2025-26 season — arguably the best-ever. So, retaining the services of the Ohio native, while also successfully re-recruiting standouts like Falslev in the age of the transfer portal, would be huge for a program that has gone through Tim Duryea (three seasons), Craig Smith (three seasons), Ryan Odom (two seasons), Danny Sprinkle (one season) and Calhoun (one season) since Stew Morrill retired in 2015 after 17 seasons at Utah State.
But like all head coaches these days, Calhoun also emphasized the need for additional NIL money, and in the Aggies’ case, to secure the services a big man or two with offensive skills.
“There’s a lot to really digest I think from the season,” Calhoun said. “There is a ton to learn, not only the Mountain West, but what’s the Pac-12 going to look like (in 2026)? What’s Gonzaga going to look like? What are some of these teams when you get in a tournament setting, I think at the mid-major level. Although, I don’t consider us a mid-major. I consider us a mid-plus.
“In two years we’re going to be as close to a Power Four, as possible. You have to have continuity. You’re looking at the mid-major teams that are winning, they have continuity. And I’ve said that all along, if you can get guys multiple years, you’ve got a chance to make a run. We threw this thing together in a very short period of time, in about a month. I think we have to reflect, figure out where we’re going collectively and try to do it.”
