LOGAN — The Aggies are going out on top.
With the outright Mountain West Conference regular-season title on the line, Utah State outlasted New Mexico, 94-90, Saturday afternoon at the Spectrum to secure the championship in its final year in the conference.
“I think we solidified ourselves as an NCAA Tournament team,” USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun declared after he and his Aggies cut down the net at the west end of Stew Morrill Court.
“If you look at the numbers, we won the Mountain West outright, we got 25 wins and our metrics are great. We’re good on both sides of the ball, and to me, we’re now playing for seeding.”
As the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas next week, Utah State (25-6, 15-5) will face the winner of Wednesday’s 8-9 game, which is likely to be between UNLV and Wyoming, at 1 p.m. MT Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Aggies, who were annihilated at UNLV 92-65 last Tuesday night, still secured at least a share of the conference title when Colorado State beat New Mexico, 82-74, Wednesday in Albuquerque, before winning it outright Saturday.
Calhoun and his staff thanked the Rams for beating New Mexico by sending an edible arrangement to Fort Collins, but nothing could have tasted sweeter than denying the Lobos (22-9, 13-7) at least a piece of the championship and taking the trophy all for themselves Saturday afternoon in front of a school-record ninth sellout crowd of 10,270.
“It was as loud as I’ve ever heard it, and students are on spring break. That’s the kind of atmosphere we have,” Calhoun said. “It was a total team effort on a lot of fronts, and you’ve got to credit our players.
“They just stayed the course through a lot of ups and downs, and these guys will go down in history, that’s for sure, for winning it outright for the second time ever and the third time in 13 years in the league.”
Utah State, which will join the Pac-12 on July 1, also won the outright Mountain West regular-season during the 2023-24 season under former head coach Danny Sprinkle, and shared the championship in 2018-19 under Craig Smith.
In addition to cutting down the net, the Aggies also celebrated Senior Night following the game on Saturday, and it was a particularly satisfying moment for senior guard MJ Collins Jr., who led the way offensively for Utah State against New Mexico, scoring 21 of his 27 points in the second half.
Collins, who transferred to USU from Vanderbilt last summer, went 7 for 14 from the floor, 4 for 10 from 3-point range and a perfect 9 for 9 from the free-throw line in what will likely be his final game at the Spectrum.
“This was our shot, and there’s no better way to finish it than at home,” Collins said. “I didn’t want my teammates to go down with another loss, and I told them that after UNLV.
“I addressed the team and told them that it starts with me. I’ve got to play better. I told them that they could take my word that I wouldn’t let them down come Saturday, and I kept my word for those guys.”
Utah State needed that huge performance from Collins in order to hold off the offensive effort of New Mexico shooting guard Jake Hall. The freshman put up a career-high 32 points to help the Lobos, who led a total of 50 seconds in the game, take a 43-42 lead into halftime.
Hall, who had 19 points in the first half, knocked down his seventh 3-pointer with 13 minutes left to reach the 30-point plateau, but he made just two free throws the rest of the game.
“First of all, that’s an NCAA Tournament team,” Calhoun said of the Lobos. “I really think coach (Eric) Olen is one of the best in the country, and I think Jake Hall, as we all saw tonight, is just a tremendous shooter. I haven’t seen anything like it in a long time.”
The Mountain West leader in made 3-point attempts (92) and 3-point field goal percentage (44.7%) coming into the game, Hall finished the game 11 for 22 from the field and 7 for 17 from 3-point range.
The Lobos also got 16 points from senior guard Tajavis Miller, 14 points from freshman guard Uriah Tenette and 11 points and 13 rebounds from freshman forward Tomislav Bulijan.
New Mexico shot 47.5% as a team, including a 13-for-29 performance from 3-point range, and put together a 19-for-26 effort from the free-throw line in front of a very hostile crowd.
Utah State shot an even 50% from the floor in both halves and finished 10 for 27 from 3-point range, but the Aggies, who have had some rough outings at the free-throw line this season, finished 30 for 36 from the charity stripe overall and went 10 for 12 from the line over the final 88 seconds to help hold off the Lobos.
“You know, the difference tonight was the free-throw line,” Calhoun said. “We were 30 for 36. The guys really wanted it.”
Calhoun gave particular praise to point guard Drake Allen.
“And Drake Allen was unbelievable. Fourteen (points), seven (assists) and five (rebounds). You know, one of the best acquisitions we had this past offseason was getting him back, and to be honest, with you, we had some tough decisions to make at that point guard spot,” Calhoun said.
“... Drake was a warrior all year long, and the kid was incredible tonight and he won a championship, and to be a starting point guard and win a championship, that’s hard to do, but he was awesome.”
Allen, who started his college career at Snow College, was granted an additional year of eligibility thanks to a court ruling that went the way of former junior college players.
Former Aggie guard Deyton Albury was also given that extra season, but he ended up transferring to New Mexico in the offseason. While he’s been good this season for the Lobos, averaging 11.7 points and 3.1 assists per game, he fouled out Saturday with over five minutes remaining after compiling four points, one rebound and one assist in 19 minutes. He was very aggressive defensively during his return to the Spectrum, particularly when it came to guarding Allen.
“I mean, at the end of the day, Deyton’s a really, really good player,” Calhoun said. “We know how to guard him. We’ve got to get him in the half court, make him make decisions and keep him out of transition, and like I said, I think Drake was the better player tonight.”
The Aggies also got 15 points from junior guard Mason Falslev — who is playing on a bad left knee and a bruised tailbone — and another 15 from junior forward Karson Templin, including two key 3-pointers.
It was feared that starting big man Zach Keller might have been lost after a serious collision with New Mexico center JT Rock late in the first half, but Calhoun said Keller’s left shoulder didn’t pop out of its socket and the former Ute was able to play 16 minutes in the second half and scored USU’s final field goal of the game with 1:53 left.
That score put Utah State up 84-77, though the Lobos ended up getting back within 92-90 with seven seconds remaining after Tennette knocked down three free throws.
However, Utah State managed to get the ball into Collins, who connected on both free throws to stretch the Aggies’ lead back to four points with five seconds left.
New Mexico’s late spurt was very nearly a replay of the end of the first half, when the Aggies, who were up by 12 points with 11 minutes to go before halftime, surrendered a 7-0 run to the Lobos that staked the visitors to a one-point advantage at halftime.
But Allen knocked down a 3-pointer just 15 seconds after halftime to regain the lead for the home team, and the Aggies ended up outscoring New Mexico 12-2 over the first four minutes of the second half to regain control of the contest for good.
Utah State’s contingent of five seniors — Collins, Allen, Keller, guard Kolby King and forward Garry Clark — ended up combining for 62 of USU’s 94 points (Allen is the only one who played more than one season in Logan).
Although he’s just a junior, Falslev is in his fourth season at Utah State, and Calhoun said the Cache Valley native is his selection for Mountain West Player of the Year, which will be announced next week.
“I mean, he just goes. He’s going 100 miles and hour at all times,” Calhoun said of Falslev. “That’s just The Mayor.
“He’s going to give it his all. He steals the balls, he passes, he scores, and to me, you can’t put a price on his leadership. His voice has been really, really loud in the locker room.”