LOGAN — Boise State’s uphill climb begin long before Wednesday’s 8:45 p.m. tipoff when the team bus was unable to make it’s way up the ice-and-snow covered road adjacent to the Spectrum, forcing the Broncos to abandon their ride, grab their gear and hike up the remainder of the steep slope to Utah State’s home gymnasium in nearly 10 inches of fresh snow.
Similarly, BSU’s offense — one of the hottest in the nation coming into Thursday’s game — got mired down by the Aggies’ stalwart defense, totaling just 37 points in the first 32 minutes of a dominating, 75-56 victory by Utah State.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said after his team extended their winning streak to eight games. “They had a lot of attention to detail. I think this time of year is ball about the details, and it’s all about your prep. And anybody that we put into the game tonight was totally locked in with great energy.”
Junior guard Mason Falslev (17 points) and senior guard MJ Collins Jr. (13 points) rebounded from quiet offensive performances in the first half to lead the Aggies in scoring, but it was USU’s defense that helped secure a season sweep of the Broncos. Down by as many as 24 points in the second half, the Broncos shot just 36.9% from the field, had just one player score in double figures, missed 12 straight shots during one second-half stretch and committed 12 turnovers.
“If you look at their defense over the last nine or 10 games, they were one of the best offenses in the country; I think they were fifth,” Calhoun pointed out. “I thought (former USU head coach and current BSU assistant coach) Tim Duryea has done a tremendous job calling their offense. So, we knew we really had to guard, and we spent a lot of time on defense.
“So, to hold Boise to 56 points and 36% from the field, is just a tremendous effort.”
The win lifted Utah State (23-3 overall, 13-2 in the Mountain West) into first place in the conference, one game ahead of second-place San Diego State (18-7, 12-3) with five games remaining in the regular season. The Aztecs were stunned by Grand Canyon, 73-63, Tuesday night in San Diego.
Utah State plays at fifth-place Nevada (17-9, 9-6) on Saturday, while San Diego State visits Colorado State (16-10, 7-8).
“Now we have to take it on the road; we did what we were supposed to do in the Spectrum,” Calhoun said after the Aggies’ went 3-0 during a three-game homestand. “And you have to give a shoutout to out fans, right? ... This was our seventh sellout of the season, which is just really, really special. And I appreciate their dedication to fight the snow.”
Utah State, it should be noted, announced that Wednesday’s game would be a “whiteout” event inside the Spectrum, long before it was known that Cache Valley would be clobbered by it’s biggest snowstorm of the winter.
But despite the difficult conditions outside, the Aggies made certain that it was worth their fans’ considerable efforts to pack the stands for the clash with the Broncos (15-11, 7-8).
“Utah State’s a heck of a team and man, they are really guarding right now,” BSU head coach Leon Rice said. “Coach (Calhoun) has done a great job with this group, buying in. When they guard, they’re one of the hardest teams to beat.”
The Aggies, who have now won seven of their last eight games against the Broncos, shot 54.7% as a team, including an 8-for-21 effort from 3-point range, while committing just seven turnovers. Senior forward Zach Keller and freshman forward Adlan Elamin both went 4 for 5 from the floor and finished with 10 points for the Aggies.
It was arguably the best performance of the season for Keller, who knocked down a 3-pointer and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while playing a season-high 23 minutes.
“I felt great tonight,” Keller said. “I was just trying to do what I could to help the team. I was making plays early and then helped my team defensively.”
Keller played stellar post defense against the Broncos, particularly when matched up against 6-foo-11 Drew Fielder. Boise State’s leading scorer ended up with a team-best 14 points and eight rebounds, but he had to take 12 shots to get there.
Senior guard Dylan Andrews, who faced the Aggies last March in the NCAA Tournament as a member of the UCLA Bruins, added nine points for the Broncos, as did senior forward Dominic Parolin.
Despite the lopsided defeat, the Broncos actually put together a 9-0 run midway through the first half that left the visitors up 21-14 with 8:35 left before intermission. Calhoun elected not to call a timeout despite the Broncos’ surge, and Utah State ended up coming back with a 9-0 run of their own to retake the lead for good.
“I think sometimes your players have got to figure it out,” Calhoun explained. “Those timeouts are very valuable, and we’ve played some classic games against Boise State since I’ve been here. So, I think sometimes you have to trust your players that they’re going to figure things out, and I thought they did.”
A slam dunk by Elamin finally ended USU’s offensive drought, then Falslev, who was unable to connect on his first four shot attempts, finally scored from the left side of the basket to make it 21-18 with seven minutes left. Another bucket by Elamin and a 3-pointer by Kolby King put Utah State up 23-21, but unlike the Broncos, the Aggies weren’t satisfied with 9-0 run.
After a basket by Andrews, Utah State ended up scoring the final seven points of the first half to take a 30-23 advantage into halftime. Falslev then took over early in the second half, scoring nine points in the first four minutes to get USU’s offense rolling again.
Utah State’s two leading scorers, Falslev and Collins ended up combining for 24 points in the second half after totaling just six points in the opening half.
“We knew we had to get MJ and Mason going because they’re our leading scorers, and I think we did that pretty well in the second half,” Keller said. “We got Mason some looks early with him driving, and that opened things up to kick the ball out to MJ for some threes. And that ended up getting our entire going.”