LOGAN — Through much of Utah State’s epic 2023-24 season, Karson Templin was a true freshman, coming off the bench to back up Mountain West Player of the Year Great Osobor.
While Osobor followed former USU head coach Danny Sprinkle to Washington for his senior season in 2024-25, Templin stayed with the Aggies and has continued to develop his offensive game during his junior year, and with Osobor in the stands as a fan for Saturday night’s non-conference game against Memphis, Templin showed his friend and mentor just how far he’s come.
“I was begging Great to come out here for this game, so I knew if he came out, I’d have to put on my best face,” said Templin, who scored a career-high 20 points in Utah State’s 99-75 victory over the Tigers.
“I picked (Osobor) up from the airport last night. We’re pretty good buddies, and he’s one of my role models and one of my best friends, so it was fun to have him courtside and be here to try and follow in his footsteps a little bit.”
Darius Brown Jr., the point guard for the Aggie team that won the Mountain West regular-season title and beat TCU in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, also made the trip for Saturday’s clash against Penny Hardaway’s Tigers (12-13 overall, 7-5 in the American Athletic Conference).
The current version of the Aggies (22-3 overall, 12-2 in the Mountain West) showed Brown and Osobor while they’re currently in first place in the conference standings with six regular-season games remaining.
Facing a Memphis team ranked in the Top 30 in the country defensively, Utah State shot 52.5% from the floor, 10 for 28 (35.7%) from 3-point range and 27 for 36 (75%) from the free-throw line.
In addition to Templin, who tied his previous career-high of 18 points in USU’s win over San Diego State on Jan. 31, senior guard MJ Collins (24 points) and junior guard Mason Falslev (20 points) left the Aggies with three 20-point scorers in the same game for the first time since the 2022-23 season.
“We had three guys get over 20 tonight, and (point guard) Elijah (Perryman) had nine assists as a freshman against the Memphis Tigers,” USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said.
“You know, when I was growing up, Penny Hardaway was one of my favorite players. It was him and Larry Bird. ... I have a ton of respect for him and his program, and their pressure is real and EP had nine assists and one turnover as a freshman. We don’t win that game without Elijah Perryman, let’s call it like it is.“
Starting point guard Drake Allen had a very rough outing against the Tigers, fouling out with nearly five minutes left in the game after committing four turnovers and missing all four of his shots in under 13 minutes of court time.
Perryman came off the bench to knock down 3 of 5 attempts and score 10 points to fall just short of his second career double-double.
But Collins, who had fallen to third in scoring in the Mountain West this week after leading the conference for most of the season, went 10 for 14 from the field and added three rebounds and four assists without a turnover in 32 minutes.
Meanwhile, Falslev went 8 for 13 front he floor, including 3 for 3 from 3-point range, while also snaring a team-best six rebounds.
However, nothing was more impressive for the Aggies than Templin’s effort from the free-throw line. A career 59% shooter from the charity stripe, the Texas native went a perfect 10 for 10 in the win over the Tigers.
“I give Karson a lot of credit,” Calhoun said. “We knew we were going to get fouled, right? And we shot 36 free throws and shoot 75%.
“I’ll take that all day, every day. This group has struggled to make free throws consistently; we have some elite games, and some not-so elite games. I think it’s concentration, but tonight, every time the ball was coming off (Templin’s) hand, I felt really good. He had great confidence and great rhythm.”
The much larger Tigers ended up winning the rebound battle 39-35, but the visitors, who will host the Aggies in west Tennessee next season, shot a mere 36.7% from the floor, including a 4-for-18 performance from beyond the arc.
Like Templin, Memphis senior guard Sincere Parker also went 10 for 10 from the free-throw line on his way to scoring a game-high 21 points, while sophomore guard Curtis Givens III added 18 points.
The Tigers, who held a three-point lead with just over five minutes to go in the first half, ended up trailing 48-34 at halftime and were down 19 points less than two minutes into the second half.
“We had them where we needed them until the last three minutes of the first half,” Hardaway said. “We just need to understand, we just need to keep fighting.
“I just hope we’re learning. We were right there in the game until the last three minutes if we go into halftime and make our adjustments. We fought for 17 minutes, and then we let go of the rope.”
Saturday’s game was slated to be a showcase event for both mid-major teams, but after wining 29 games and the American Athletic Conference title last season, the Tigers are in danger of becoming Hardaway’s first team in eight seasons at his alma mater not to win 20 or more games.
Coming into the game, the Aggies were 25th in the KenPom ratings, while the Tigers were barely inside the top 100. That said, Memphis played the fourth-toughest non-conference schedule in the country, losing six games to six ranked teams, so Utah State knew the Tigers would hardly be a pushover during the sixth sellout of the season at the Spectrum.
That was certainly the case early in the contest as Memphis managed to go ahead by four points and limited the Aggies to a mere six field goals in the first 15 minutes.
A 13-5 run by the visitors left the Tigers up 27-24, but Templin sparked a late surge by hitting four free throws. A three-point play by Collins gave the Aggies the lead for good and they continued to build on that advantage the remainder of the first half.
During most of the game-changing stretch that saw Utah State outscore Memphis 21-10 over the final five minutes before intermission, the Aggies went small, playing Templin with Collins, Falslev, Perryman and senior guard Kolby King.
That resulted in a flurry of steals and fast-break baskets for Utah State, which scored 21 points off of Memphis’ 12 turnovers over the course of the game.
“I think we had Mason paying the four during that stretch, but we started getting out in transition,” Templin said. “We got some more stops, so I’d probably have give credit to that small lineup.
“Our perimeter defense is really deep, and they’re all really active on the ball. It kind of threw a curveball at them on offense and defense, and sometimes shaking things up just works.”
The Aggies appeared ready to cruise to victory by outscoring the Tigers 7-2 to open the second half, but Memphis eventually countered with a 15-4 run of their own.
However, the visitors were never able to get any closer than eight points before Utah State regained control of the contest by connecting on eight straight shot attempts, climaxing in a high-arcing 3-pointer by Perryman that left USU up 76-55 with 10 minutes remaining.
“I think you saw the amount of talent that Memphis has, and from here on out, we’re going to be Memphis Tigers fans,” Calhoun noted. “Give Coach Hardaway a lot of credit. He’ll play anybody anytime, anywhere. ... And I thought this game was good for us, and I’m really proud of our guys.”
The Aggies held sole possession of first place in the Mountain West by a half-game over San Diego State heading into Saturday, but the Aztecs defeated Nevada, 71-57, to pull even in the conference standings.
Utah State will complete its three-game homestand Wednesday against Boise State (15-10, 7-7), while San Diego State (18-6, 12-2) will host Grand Canyon (16-9, 9-5) on Tuesday.