- Utah State defeated Air Force 99-62 at Clune Arena on Tuesday night.
- USU's MJ Collins Jr. led with 20 points while Adlan Elamin added 13 points.
- The Aggies extended their winning streak to six games in Mountain West play.
There was no letdown by the Aggies Tuesday night at Clune Arena at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
The Utah State men's basketball team never trailed in a Mountain West Conference game against Air Force. The Aggies scored the first seven points of the game and soared to the most ever points recorded by USU against the Falcons in a 99-62 victory.
"We talked about being obsessed with the little things at halftime, not scoreboard watching, being obsessed with details possession by possession," USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "It's the only way you can maximize your full team potential. I thought the details were better in the second half. … I thought our guys were really focused tonight on the road."
In the lone meeting of the regular season between the Aggies (13-1, 4-0 MW) and Falcons (3-12, 0-4), it was pretty much all USU. Air Force did hang around in the first half and even got within 11 early in the second half, but the Aggies heated up from long range and put on a dunk show during one stretch.
"Honestly, he (MJ Collins Jr.) has a couple of dunks I can't do, so yeah, he is probably the better dunker," said USU wing Adlan Elamin, who had one of the dunks during a three-minute throw-down show.
Collins did have some nice slams and tried to poster 7-foot Air Force center Wesley Celichowski, only to have his attempt blocked. The Aggie guard did finish with a game-best 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting.
"I'm just trying to go hard every day and approach every day at practice like a game," said Elamin, who made his sixth start of the season and finished with 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting. "My teammates have been finding me in places where I can be productive. I try to do everything I can defensively and on the glass to help my team win."
Joining Collins and Elamin in double-digit scoring for USU were Kolby King (15), Mason Falslev (13) and former Falcon Luke Kearney (10). King was 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. All 12 Aggies saw at least seven minutes of action and all 12 scored.
"I think Luke (Kearney), Jordy (Barnes) and Tuck(er Anderson) have worked their tail off," Calhoun said. "They are on a borderline Top 25 team. This is a very deep roster. These kids could play at a lot of places. They sacrifice and work hard every day.
"Luke comes in plays eight minutes, gets 10 points. I have thoughts of him winning a game for us on a game winner. I have a lot of confidence in him, Jordy Barnes and Tucker Anderson. All these kids are good players and even better teammates. They were ready when their number was called tonight. I thought they played really good and played smart."
USU shot 58.5 percent from the field for the game and knocked down 12 of 26 from beyond the 3-point arc (46.2 percent). Air Force finished at 41 percent and made 6 of 20 from long range (30 percent).
"Really what matters is the analytics," Calhoun said. "Are you playing good basketball on offense and defense? Are you executing at a high level. That's really what we have talked about with our guys. The first half we struggled from three, the second half we made a lot more threes. The ball moved, and we valued the ball. We didn't hit home runs; we talked about hitting strikes."
Falslev led the Aggies on the glass with a game-high eight rebounds. Zack Keller grabbed a season-high five, while nine different USU players had at least three rebounds. Elijah Perryman came off the bench to lead the team in assists with five, while King had four dimes. Six Aggies had multiple assists.
"We got a lot of good efforts from a lot of guys," Calhoun said. "… Minutes were distributed pretty equal across the board. I was hoping we could do that."
Two Air Force players reached double figures in Caleb Walker and Kam Sanders with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Falcons have now lost eight in a row after winning three straight.
It took the Aggies just 61 seconds to jump out to a 7-0 lead to begin the game. Falslev started the scoring with a rebound bucket. Collins beat the shot clock and then hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Falslev.
After the Falcons got on the scoreboard with free throws and then recorded their first field goal, they went scoreless for nearly six minutes. USU took advantage by scoring 12 consecutive points. Elamin had seven straight points, and Karson Templin capped the surge with a bucket from the paint to give the visitors a 21-4 lead seven minutes into the contest.
"That was my teammates finding me and getting me going," Elamin said. "There were a couple of lobs from Mason (Falslev) and MJ (Collins), just finding me on the cuts. It was all credit to my teammates."
Following a coast-to-coast score by Falslev, Air Force scored its first back-to-back buckets to spark a 10-3 run and pull within 30-18 with six minutes left before the break.
The Aggies responded with a 9-1 surge to take their biggest lead of the opening half, 39-19, with 3:36 left. King drilled three free throws after getting fouled on a trey attempt to make it a 20-point lead.
Air Force was able to finish off the first 20 minutes by outscoring USU 12-6 over the final three minutes. The Aggies took a 45-31 lead into halftime.
USU turned six Falcon turnovers into eight points in the first half. The Aggies had just three turnovers at the break.
"We wanted to really get going in transition, so forcing turnovers was going to be the main factor in that," Elamin said.
Walker converted a three-point play for the Falcons to begin the second half, but after that it was all Aggies.
Keller scored two quick field goals to begin a 15-2 run by the Aggies, which included a stretch of nine straight points. Air Force went more than seven minutes between field goals. The run by USU was highlighted by four straight dunks as Collins had three of the flushes and Elamin one. Drake Allen drove in for two to cap the run and give the Aggies a 60-36 lead with 12:46 to play.
Eight straight points by USU gave the visitors a 74-44 lead with 7:43 left in the game. Tucker Anderson drilled a 3-pointer, and Falslev completed a three-point play.
King heated up from long range down the stretch and gave USU its largest lead of the game, 96-56, with his fourth trey of the night with a minute-and-a-half to go.
"It feels good to come out and do what we are supposed to do," Elamin said. "We knew what we had to do coming into the game. It was about executing and staying to our principles."
USU has now won six in a row.
"It's been really fun going to war with these guys every day in practice and in games," Elamin said. "It's all credit to my teammates. I wouldn't be doing anything I'm doing right now without them. They been putting me in the right position, along with the coaches. I'm thankful for everybody."
The Aggie coach had stressed to his team about not looking head to Saturday and Boise State. He felt his team stayed focused on Air Force and the task at hand Tuesday night.
Keller left the game late in the second half with a bloody mouth, but did have all of his teeth. Calhoun did not have an update on the big man right after the game, but felt he should be ready to go on Saturday.
