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LARAMIE, Wyo. — Utah State nearly secured its biggest win of the season Tuesday night.
But Graham Ike had other plans.
With the Aggies leading by 2 points with 17 seconds left in regulation, Wyoming's standout center, who finished with a game high 28 points, hit two free throws to force overtime. In overtime, Ike collected another rebound and put it in with 6.2 seconds to play to take a 2-point lead.
Aggies guard Rylan Jones attempted a floater that fell short at the buzzer, and Utah State fell 78-76.
It was a gut-wrenching defeat for the Aggies that saw history repeat itself. The Cowboys defeated Utah State by 2 points on an Ike game-winning field goal in Logan in January. It's also a missed opportunity for a major resume-building win.
With Wyoming ranked No. 30 in the NCAA's NET rankings, stealing a game against the Mountain West Conference leader in the Arena-Auditorium would be a Quad 1 win — catapulting Utah State back into the conversation for an at-large bid of the NCAA Tournament. Instead, they fly home to Logan with a 6-6 record in conference play.
"It's a tough one to go out on. Obviously it's a crazy environment here in Wyoming," senior forward Justin Bean said. "We knew it was gonna be a battle and just a super emotional, super intense game. "I thought we battled, thought we gave it our all. We gave ourselves chances to win at the end of regulation and in overtime, and we just didn't execute on a few things."
The Aggies, who were missing starting guard Sean Bairstow due to a non-COVID-19 illness, didn't play their best basketball. They struggled at times to execute their fluid, pass-heavy offense that helped them win five games in a row, and had 15 assists to 13 turnovers, and shot 48% from the field.
The team also spent much of the game in foul trouble. Bean played with four fouls for the final 6:33 of regulation; Trevin Dorius picked up four fouls early in the second half and played just seven minutes; Steven Ashworth and Brandon Horvath also sat at moments due to foul trouble. Wyoming shot 32 free throws, opposed to 13 for the Aggies.
But Utah State's playmakers made enough plays to give themselves a chance.
Horvath had a team-high 20 points, including a 16-point first-half effort from the forward to lift Utah State to a 40-36 halftime lead. Ashworth had 16; and in the second half, Bean came alive and scored all 14 of his points.
Drake Jeffries hit a 3-pointer to give Wyoming its first lead of the second half with 8:05 left, but Bean scored the final 11 points for Utah State.
The Aggies trailed by 3 points with just over six minutes left to play in regulation, but Bean hit a mid-range jumper and a layup on back-to-back possessions to retake the lead. He later pushed the lead to 2 points after the game was tied with two minutes left. Max Shulga penetrated the lane and bounced a pass to Bean for a dunk to take the lead.
"In the second half, I wanted to be aggressive," Bean said. "I wanted to try and score and give our team a chance to take the lead late. So thankful to be able to do that.
The 2-point lead held for nearly the entire part of the second half, but in the final second Ike had it his way — just like he did the entire second half.
Ike, who played just four minutes in the first half, was dominant the final 25 minutes of play. He finished with 24 points in the second half and overtime and was 8 of 12 from the free-throw line. He added five offensive rebounds, which translated into 12 second-chance points for the Cowboys.
The challenge for the Aggies was to match Ike's physicality while attempting to avoid fouling him in the paint; it didn't work. If the Aggies weren't aggressive, Ike got a bucket; if they were aggressive, he'd visit the free-throw line.
"I don't know. I mean, it's tough," Aggies head coach Ryan Odom said. "I mean, I don't know that anybody's really figured it out in the Mountain West how to balance the two — the balance of physicality and not fouling and being too soft, you know, it's a really difficult line to walk."
Utah State found itself on the wrong side of the line too many times, and it cost them a pivotal road game.
Utah State trailed by 4 points in overtime but clawed back. A layup by Jones tied it at 76-76 with 35 seconds to play. Jeffries later missed a 3-pointer and Ike secured the offensive rebound for a put-back basket to ultimately give Wyoming the win.
"Ike came in the second half and just kind of took over the game it felt like," Bean said. "We just have to be more physical and just match that intensity better."
Utah State returns to Logan to face Nevada on Friday (7 p.m. MST, FS1).
