LOGAN — The Aggies last stepped on an NCAA Tournament court in Lexington, Kentucky, also known as the “Horse Capital of the World.”
Things didn’t go so well for Utah State against UCLA last March at Rupp Arena. The Aggies trailed the Bruins by just two points with 4:37 left in the first half before Mick Cronin’s squad exploded for a 12-0 run that changed the game, a game Utah State eventually lost 72-47.
And as often happens in the Bluegrass State, the Aggies rode one of their thoroughbreds hard in a futile attempt to stay in the contest. But after scoring more points (17), pulling down more rebounds (10) and playing more minutes (37) than another player in the game, sophomore guard Mason Falslev slowly walked off the court in the final moments, both knees battered and bloodied and his chin tucked into his chest.
Normally upbeat with a quick smile, it was an exhausted and very somber Falslev who quietly answered questions from the media after USU’s season-ending loss.
“I obviously got a little taste last year with one win (over TCU at the 2024 NCAA Tournament), and I was hoping we’d get another one. And even another one after that,” Falslev said quietly. “But you know, I’m definitely motivated, and I want to get back here next year and make a run. That’s the dream.”
Falslev’s coach, Jerrod Calhoun, said that after the lopsided loss, his star guard was absolutely inconsolable.
“The kid just competes,” Calhoun said of Falslev. “My heart’s hurting for him because I thought he went out the right way. You know, when you’re going to lose, you got to go out the right way. And he went out as a fierce competitor. Aggie Nation has seen it all year. They’ve seen it for two years.
“The kid is just a warrior.”
But even in a moment of deep despair, that “warrior” was already trying to come to grips that he could have done even more for his team, despite a gutty performance. But Falslev was already determined to get back to the Big Dance during his junior year, and even before he left the press conference dais, he had already recognized some of the ways to improve his game, which admittedly became less efficient as the second half wore on.
“I just didn’t want to lose this game,” Falslev said. “I was trying to crash on the boards and do everything I could to help us. But, you know, I’ve got to get in better shape and be able to make shots when I’m tired.”
Back dancin’
A year later, Mason Falslev is once again battered and bruised — it’s simply the only way he knows how to play — and the Aggie warrior is understandably tired.
But he’s also very happy.
The 2026 Mountain West Player of the Year after averaging 15.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game, Falslev helped lead the 2025-26 Aggies (28-6) into history, becoming the first USU team to ever win the Mountain West regular-season title outright, as well as the conference’s postseason tournament in Las Vegas. And the reward for that effort was a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a first-round matchup against No. 8 Villanova (24-8) Friday at Viejas Arena in San Diego.
But watching the 24-year-old from the tiny Cache Valley community of Benson hoist two different trophies and cut down nets in two different arenas makes it easy to forget that nothing was a given after that 25-point loss to UCLA in Kentucky. In the current “Wild West” world of collegiate athletics, where NIL money and the transfer portal have changed the way basketball rosters are built and retained, there was hardly any guarantee that Falslev, who redshirted under Ryan Odom in 2022-24, would be around for a fourth season at Utah State.
And while players have constantly been on the move in recent years, so have Utah State head coaches, ever since Stew Morrill retired at the end of the 2014-15 season. Tim Duryea was let go after three seasons, Craig Smith was hired away by Utah after three years, Odom left for VCU after two seasons, and Danny Sprinkle spent just one miraculous year in Logan before leaving for Washington.
There was understandably concern that Calhoun might also be “one-and-done” after going 26-8 in his first season at Utah State, but after a potential opportunity at West Virginia didn’t pan out, Calhoun dug in his heels and went to work rebuilding an Aggie roster that most notably lost leading scorer Ian Martinez to graduation, as well as guard Dexter Akanno and forward Aubin Gateretse.
“The strength of this team is its numbers, and it’s a team. … There’s a lot of teams that have talent, but they don’t have both. They don’t put ‘we’ over ‘me.’ And these guys have done that time and time again. I’ve said it over and over: this is one of the most connected groups I’ve ever been around in the history of my head coaching career and my assistant career."
— Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun
Eventually, notable contributors from the 2024-25 season, including Deyton Albury (New Mexico), Isaac Johnson (Hawai’i) and Isaac Davis (Utah Valley) transferred elsewhere, but graduate guard Drake Allen was granted an extra year of eligibility after a court ruled in favor of junior college athletes. Calhoun and his staff also came up with the necessary funds to retain the services of Falslev, junior forward Karson Templin, junior wing Tucker Anderson and sophomore guard Jordy Barnes.
What was most surprising, however, was the balanced formula of 5-5-5 that Calhoun managed to put together in the end. In addition to the five returners, the Aggies added senior guards MJ Collins Jr. and Kolby King, senior forwards Garry Clark and Zach Keller, and junior forward Luke Kearney through the transfer portal. And Calhoun and his staff also signed arguably the strongest freshman class in school history, comprised of wings Adlan Elamin and Kingston Tosi, guards Elijah Perryman and Brayden Boe, and forward David Iweze.
As summer turned to fall, Calhoun decided that he had sufficient depth to allow just two of those freshmen — Elamin and Perryman — to play this season, while the rest would redshirt. And Elamin, who has started 26 games, and Perryman, Allen’s primary backup at point guard, have played huge roles in 2025-26, even while their production has been a little bit up and down due to their youth.
Where the Aggies really hit, though, was on the addition of Collins, who scored 40 points in a game against Davidson in November and is USU’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game. Templin, who has always given the Aggies a huge shot of adrenaline off the bench, was named the MW’s Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 9.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, knocking down 20 3-pointers and being USU’s most physical post presence. King could have arguably been the league’s Seventh Man of the Year, if there was such a thing, after playing great perimeter defense and knocking down some of the Aggies’ most clutch shots of the season.
And while Calhoun desperately wanted to find the funds necessary to sign a larger, more offensive-minded post player, he’s managed to rebuild the confidence of 6-foot-10 forward Keller and get some great performances out of Clark, who picked up a Mountain West Player of the Week award back in November.
Defensively, Utah State also made a major adjustment from last season, and rather than playing primarily a match-up zone defense, Calhoun and his staff elected to switch to a deceptive mix of match-up zone and man-to-man.
The Aggies, who have been blessed with remarkably good health this season, went 10-1 in nonconference play, losing only at South Florida in early December. Calhoun’s squad ended up 15-1 at home in the Spectrum, the only blemish being a 10-point loss to UNLV, and head into Friday’s game against the Wildcats with a 6-0 record on neutral courts.
Named the Mountain West Coach of the Year for his efforts, Calhoun only had to suffer through back-to-back losses twice in 2025-26. But after losing to Grand Canyon on the road and the Rebels at home, the Aggies reeled off eight straight wins before dropping games at Nevada and San Diego State.
After beating Grand Canyon at the Spectrum, Utah State was crushed on the road at UNLV, 92-65, on March 3, but the Aggies haven’t lost since. And while they simply had to outscore New Mexico, 94-90, on March 7, to clinch the outright Mountain West title, Utah State dominated their opponents at the conference tournament, surrendering an average of fewer than 63 points a game while beating the Rebels, Wolf Pack and Aztecs all by double digits.
“We looked at our regular season, and I think a lot of times when we took bad shots or maybe didn’t do the best offensive plays, it led to the other team getting good defensive plays,” Falslev said of USU’s impressive run in their final Mountain West tournament. “I think everyone bought in and just said, ‘Look, we’re not settling. We’re going to get to the paint, and we’re going to play off two and we’re going to make the right plays, every play, possession after possession.’ I think that’s why we were so successful the past three games.”
Strength in numbers
Utah State’s season is now down to one win-or-go-home game.
But the Aggies, who felt they deserved at least a No. 7 seed, if not a No. 6 slot, are optimistic heading into Friday’s game against a team that had to travel across the country from Philadelphia. Utah State had a far shorter trip to make to San Diego, and the Aggies are also playing an arena they travel to every year to face San Diego State.
Utah State (No. 30) and Villanova (No. 33) are nearly even in the KenPom.com rankings, and the Wildcats are certainly expecting a tough battle at Viejas Arena.
“This is an experienced team with physical guards,” Villanova coach Kevin Willard said of the Aggies. “They play a lot of guys. It’s a unique defense. It’s like what we try to play but they have experienced guys who have been in it, so they are really good at it. It’s a very good basketball team.”
Calhoun, who will be one of the hottest coaching candidates in the country regardless of what happens in Southern California, referred to the 2025-26 Aggies as “one of the very few team-teams left.”
“The strength of this team is its numbers, and it’s a team,” he said. “… There’s a lot of teams that have talent, but they don’t have both. They don’t put ‘we’ over ‘me.’ And these guys have done that time and time again. I’ve said it over and over: this is one of the most connected groups I’ve ever been around in the history of my head coaching career and my assistant career.
“… This team has a real shot. We don’t want to be just happy to be in the tournament. We want to make a run and make history again and get to a second weekend, which has never been done,” continued Calhoun, who said he has received congratulatory texts from former USU coaches Craig Smith and Danny Sprinkle in recent weeks, as well as from Aggie great and current Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill.
“We just made history on the regular season in the conference tournament,” Calhoun said. “Now let’s see if we can do (it) in the NCAA Tournament.”
