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LOGAN — In a messy game of self-discovery, Utah State found a way to beat Montana State University Billings 73-64.
The score is not truly indicative of the evening, however, as the Aggies put in many of their bench players for the final few minutes and were on the wrong side of a 14-1 run.
In an exhibition game like Friday night, not a lot is certain, but there are a few things we can take away from the first look at the new Aggies.
Mason Falslev can be electric
With 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, Mason Falslev lit up the Spectrum Friday evening.
"I'm not going to lie, I was so nervous," said Falselv, who was a 2020 Sky View High graduate before serving a church mission and then redshirting last season for the Aggies. "You know, I haven't played in front of a lot of people in a really long time, and even toward the end of the game I still kind of had the jitters, so I'm excited to keep playing, and hopefully that becomes a little bit more normal."
New head coach Danny Sprinkle laughed when hearing about Falslev's comment, saying "he needs to keep playing nervous if he plays like that."
In addition to shooting 75% from the field, Falslev added seven rebounds and four assists in the win.
"It has been a long time," Falslev said. "I'm just so grateful for God giving me this opportunity, and it was just super fun."
The squad has some jitters
Falslev was not the only player who felt a little jittery.
As a team, the Aggies knocked down just 11 of its 21 free throws, something Sprinkle attributed to the nerves of in-game situations. They also committed many fouls early on in both halves, forcing them to play a little less aggressively in the latter part of both halves. Add that to eight first-half turnovers and repeatedly "forcing shots," and the Aggies' inexperience was evident.
"Our guys' effort was great, but sometimes they're playing too hard to where they're not playing smart," Sprinkle said. "It's a fine line, which we'll get better at. I want them to continue to play hard, but now play smart."
Darius Brown II, the leader of the offense as proclaimed by Sprinkle and Falslev after the game, might have felt some of the nerves, too. He was not as productive in the scoring column, recording just 4 points on eight shots, but led the team with seven assists.
It's going to take the whole team
There's so much to say about each of the players who played Friday evening, but, in general, each player had flashes of great potential.
Bigs Kalifa Sakho and Isaac Johnson both had good outings, with Sakho leading the Aggies with eight rebounds and Johnson, who is nicknamed "Fish," according to Falslev, finished with 13 points.
Josh Uduje, the guard transfer from Coastal Carolina, finished with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, and worked well with Falslev and Brown in getting the offense flowing.
Karson Templin, Nigel Burris, Max Agbonkpolo and Javon Jackson all played important roles off the bench in the win. It appears the nine players mentioned here, in addition to the injured Great Osobor, will all have a significant role this season.
It's difficult to know how the Aggies will match up against their opponents when the season begins Monday, but Aggies fans certainly have to feel a lot better about their basketball team now than they did a few days ago.
"Hopefully, we can learn from what happened today and we can be better and just keep progressing as a team, and just get better and better throughout the season," Falslev said.
The Aggies' first real game will come against South Dakota Mines at home Monday at 7:30 p.m. MST.
