- Utah State's eight-game winning streak ended with an 84-74 loss to Grand Canyon.
- Aggies coach Jerrod Calhoun cited defensive struggles and the Lopes' physical play as factors.
- Mason Falslev scored 25 points but faced challenges from Grand Canyon's height advantage.
In the first-ever meeting with Grand Canyon, No. 23 Utah State ran into some wild fans, lots of fouls and very few 50-50 calls going its way.
The Lopes did make plays and were able to hold off several late charges by the Aggies to record a 84-74 Mountain West Conference victory in front of a raucous crowd of 7,135 at Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix Saturday afternoon.
"It was a really quick turnaround and I thought our defense failed us," USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "They (Lopes) did a good of playing physical on us. We weren't able to move offensively. They played a great game."
The loss ended an eight-game winning streak by the Aggies (15-2, 6-1 MW) and most likely will bounce them from the Top 25 rankings. It also makes the league race more interesting.
"Obviously, the game plan wasn't carried out," Calhoun said. "We do it together. … It's hard when you lose and don't play well, but that's life and you have to bounce back."
There were 49 fouls called in the game — a season-high 27 on USU. The Lopes (11-6, 4-2) made 23 of 33 free throws for the game, while the Aggies were 17 of 23 from the stripe. The USU coach did not want to comment on the many whistles right after the game.
"I have zero comments about that," Calhoun said. "I'm not going to comment on that. I'm not going to say a single word."
The coach was asked about his cell phone number and the number of Aggie guard Mason Falslev being shared among Grand Canyon students by Scott Garrard in a radio interview on the Aggie Radio Network after the game. Calhoun confirmed that he and Falslev had received non-stop texts since late Friday night into Saturday with some of them being "disturbing." However, the Aggie coach said he would not let some bad fans take away from the atmosphere in the arena created by 3,000 students know as the Havocs.
The Aggies shot 36.2 percent from the field, while the Lopes made 50.9 percent of their shots. USU was 7 of 28 from beyond the arc, while Grand Canyon was 7 of 20.
"It's college basketball, you aren't going to make every shot; they aren't NBA players," Calhoun said. "We will get back in the gym and work at it. Passing leads to good shooting. You have to pass the ball well."
There were only seven turnovers committed by the Aggies, but they had a season-low 10 assists.
The Aggies never seemed to get a rhythm going. The height and length of the Lopes certainly had something to do with that. Dennis Evans, a 7-foot-2 freshman, came into the game averaging five minutes an outing, but saw 19 minutes of action and blocked six shots and altered a handful of others as USU missed some layups. Starting center Efe Demirel is 7-1, while a pair of 6-10 players came off the bench.
"They (Lopes) spent a lot of money on this roster, so their size is real," Calhoun said. "Their bigs are really, really big. … That's the biggest team we have faced all year. They do a tremendous job of walling up and crowding the floor. The size is a major factor, and I thought that wore on his tonight."
Falslev finished with a game-high 25 points, but had several of his drives halted by the Lopes big men. Falslev recorded his fourth career double-double with a game-best and career-tying 12 rebounds. The Aggie guard also had two assists — several others were not credited to him — and blocked a shot.
"He is one of the best players in the league, he competes," Calhoun said of Falslev. "He's a warrior. He is always going to play as hard as he can, whether it's home or away."
Falslev was joined in double-digit scoring by MJ Collins Jr. (12), Adlan Elamin (12) and Karson Templin (10). Elamin fouled out with a minute to play, also having seven rebounds. Falslev, Collins and Templin finished the game with four fouls each.
Grand Canyon was led by guards Brian Moore Jr. and Makaih Williams with 20 points each. A trio of other Lopes also reached double-figure scoring in Jaden Henley (12), Nana Owusu-Anone (11) and Caleb Shaw (10). Owusu-Anone hauled in 11 rebounds.
"I thought their guards played well, and they have size at every position," Calhoun said. "They take you out of things."
The Aggies scored first with a bucket from Collins, but then the Lopes scored five quick points to grab the lead, where they stayed the rest of the game.
Grand Canyon scored six straight points to build an 11-4 lead four-and-a-half minutes in to the contest. Three minutes later it was 17-8 for the hosts.
Falslev tried to rally the Aggies. He started with a pair of free throws and then hit back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers that was part of a 10-2 run — all 10 points scored by Falslev. A free throw tied the game at 23-23 with 8:49 left in the first half.
USU had several chances to take the lead, but couldn't convert.
The Lopes used a 7-0 run to build their largest lead of the game, 36-26, with 4:40 left in the half.
The Aggies were able to claw back to within 42-36 at the break.
There were 28 fouls called in the first half — 14 on each team — and 33 free throws attempted. USU went 14 of 18 from the foul line, while Grand Canyon was 9 of 15.
The Lopes had 22 points in the paint over the first 20 minutes to the Aggies' six.
Both teams opened the second half with a pair of missed shots, then traded buckets with Grand Canyon scoring first. A pair of shots from long range gave the Lopes a 55-47 lead with 13:31 left to play.
USU used a 6-0 run to get within 57-55 with 10:43 to play. Elijah Perryman came up with a steal and dunked it on the other end to cap the surge.
Kolby King drilled a 3-pointer to pull the Aggies within 61-60 two minutes later. It would be as close as USU would get.
The Lopes didn't flinch and soon had a 73-65 lead with just under five minutes to play.
The Aggies missed their final eight shots of the game over the final 90 seconds, getting multiple offensive boards, but not being able to finish
The Lopes scored the last five minutes of the game. Grand Canyon, who has made it to the NCAA Tournament four of the last five years, has now won six of its last eight games.
"It really came down to one thing, guarding the basketball," Calhoun said. "We'll have to look at some things. I thought they beat us to the middle, beat us to the paint. Basketball is about getting to your spots, and they got their spots."
