LOGAN — Since most students had yet to return from Christmas break, the Aggie Pep Band was supplemented by Utah State alums and veterans musicians for Saturday afternoon’s game against San Jose State.
Perhaps that’s why the band broke out the theme song from the CBS TV show “Simon & Simon” during pregame warmups, which appeared to be a bad omen for the Aggies.
The first season of the private detective drama starring Jameson Parker and Gerald McRaney debuted during the 1981-82 television season, and it just so happens that the last time the Spartans won a game in the Spectrum was during the 1981-82 season.
But after trailing by three points at halftime and 59-52 with 16:38 left, the Aggies finally solved the mystery of the Spartans and ended up pulling away for a decisive 96-78 victory in front of 8,972 fans.
“I thought in the first half our offense carried us, and I thought in the second half — especially the last 15 minutes of the game — our defense carried us,” USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said.
“But that’s the same of a really good team. You can win a lot of different ways: offense, defense and have three kids come off your bench and really step up.”
Calhoun added that coming into Saturday’s contest, he was determined to “win with our depth,” and the trio of senior forward Garry Clark (16 points, five rebounds), junior forward Karson Templin (13 points, seven rebounds) and freshman guard Elijah Perryman (13 points, 10 assists) played a huge role in Utah State’s second-half comeback.
Clark and Templin went a combined 13 for 14 from the field, while Perryman was 4 for 6 from the field and 4 for 4 from the free throw line while committing just one turnover in nearly 22 minutes.
His double-double was the first by an Aggie freshman since Trevin Dorius compiled 10 points and 11 rebounds against Saint Katherine on Dec. 10, 2019.
“Obviously, we saw that Elijah Perryman just continues to grow up/ I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Calhoun said, “and I thought Karson Templin and Garry were absolutely flying around and played a very physical second half.”
Utah State (12-1 overall, 3-0 in the Mountain West) has now won 35 straight home games against San Jose State (5-9, 0-3), dating back to a loss on Feb. 25, 1982, and have prevailed in 42 of its last 45 clashes with the Spartans overall.
The Aggies, who have won five games in a row since suffering their lone loss of the season at South Florida on Dec. 4, shot 63% as a team against San Jose State while going 7 for 17 from 3-point range and 21 for 26 from the free-throw line.
Senior guard MJ Collins Jr. led all scorers with 23 points on the strength of four 3-pointers, while junior guard Mason Falslev added 18 points despite battling an illness.
And yet, late in the first half, the Aggies found themselves trailing the Spartans 33-27 despite shooting 71% as a team. Of course, at the time, San Jose State was 7 for 11 from 3-point range, and the visitors would knock down two more treys to help them take a 51-48 lead into halftime.
The Spartans’ 9 for 15 performance from beyond the arc was absolutely stunning considering SJSU was averaging less than eight 3-pointers per contest coming into Saturday’s game.
“I’m not sure what that defense was in the first half,” Calhoun said, “but I think what gets lost is how well San Jose State played. They’re a very, very hard team to play against. They control tempo, they’ve got good guards and they’ve got bigs (who) can pick and pop and shoot.”
The Aggies fared far better with their perimeter defense in the second half, limiting the Spartans to just five 3-point attempts, only one of which went down.
Overall, San Jose State shot 31.1% in the second half after shooting 57.1% from the floor over the first 20 minutes.
Hampered by foul trouble, junior guard Colby Garland still played 32 minutes and scored 17 points for the Spartans, but the leading scorer in the Mountain West Conference coming into the game at 20.4 points per game totaled just five field goals.
Sophomore guard Jermaine Washington led San Jose State with 18 points, while sophomore forward Adrian Myers and freshman guard Melvin Bell Jr. added 13 points apiece.
But after building their biggest of the game of seven points, the Spartans were outscored 44-19 over the final 16 minutes, and the visitors notched their last field goal of the game with 3:52 remaining as Utah State closed out the victory with a 12-1 run.
“I thought it was a fun college basketball game for a long time,” SJSU head coach Tim Miles said. “For Utah State, I thought Perryman was really good tonight, Falslev was so tough, Cark was really vital and I thought that their second group was really strong, with Templin and that whole group.
“This is a tough place to win for a lot of teams, and we’re sure one of them.”
Perryman played just three minutes in the first half, finishing with one field goal, two points, one assist and one turnover, but the freshman point guard from San Francisco stayed on the court for nearly the entire second half, totaling 11 points and nine assists without a turnover.
It’s uncertain who the last freshman Aggie was to finish a game with 10 or more assists, but Perryman’s 10th came when Collins took a pass from him and quickly knocked down a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left for the final points of the ballgame.
“I didn’t know how many assists I had at the time, I was just focusing on winning the game,” Perryman said. “But I saw that (Collins) was open, and in my opinion, he’s the best scorer in our league, so if he’s wide open, I’m definitely giving him a shot and it went in, so we were just happy and excited.”
Calhoun said he his giving his team a day off on Sunday following eight straight days of games and practice coming back from Christmas break.
The Aggies are on the road next week, playing at Air Force on Tuesday and at Boise State on Saturday.