LARAMIE, Wyo. — In one of the wilder games of the year for the Aggies, they were able to dodge being upset Saturday evening at Arena Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming.
The Utah State men's basketball team avoided a total collapse and held on for a 85-83 victory against the Cowboys in a Mountain West Conference game. The Aggies had an 11-point lead with less than three minutes to play.
"We had a lack of a lot of stuff," USU guard Mason Falslev said. "A lack of execution, a lack of leadership and, we were not on the same page. We've got to be better. I'm glad we can learn from a win. This will help us in the future for sure."
Wyoming got within a point with 15 seconds to play.
"We were just very discombobulated at the end," USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "As the momentum shifted, our attention to detail and our understanding of time and score were not very good. I'm actually glad this happened. I think this is a good thing. It keeps you on your toes as a coach. Certainly we've got to be better in those situations. … We have to do a better job of getting them organized. We do situations every day. Obviously, we didn't execute those situations. Winning like this is really good, brings you down a little bit. We've had two emotional wins. It's a game we can learn from. None of the guys in the locker room were happy with how we finished. That's a good thing."
With the win, the Aggies (20-3, 11-2 MW) remain atop the league standings and extend their current winning streak to five. USU has now beat Wyoming (13-11, 4-9) eight straight times.
The Aggies got a monster game from Falslev. He finished with a season-high 27 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the field. The junior also led USU in rebounds (six) and assists (five).
"Heavenly Father had my back today," Falslev said. "I was saying a lot of prayers before the game. I haven't played very well in this arena. That's all I've got to say."
"I thought Mason just really willed us," Calhoun said. "He had a lot of two-feet finishes at the rim. He had some big offensive rebounds."
Over the final 77 seconds of the game, the Cowboys outscored the Aggies, 10-3. A turnover, some missed shots and sending the hosts to the foul line for seven free throws during that stretch gave Wyoming life.
"I give Wyoming a ton of credit," Calhoun said. "They had two big guys out and went to the four-guard lineup. They did a nice job. Sundance (Wicks) is a good coach. I knew this would be an absolute war."
The Cowboys had the ball with 13 seconds to play and trailing by two after Aggie guard MJ Collins Jr. missed the second of two free throws. Wyoming went for two to tie the game, but a shot in the paint by Nasir Meyer bounced off the front of the rim. Falslev got a hand on the ball, as did Aggie forward Karson Templin. USU guard Elijah Perryman ended up falling on the ball and eventually a jump ball was called with 0.1 seconds to play, and the Aggies having possession. Game over.
"We knew they (Cowboys) were going to go at us and try to get downhill," Falslev said. "Luckily he (Meyer) missed and luckily we jumped on that ball. KT (Templin) made a great play on the ball and EP (Perryman) jumped on it. It was a good play by those two."
USU shot a season-high 64.4 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range (6 of 12). Wyoming shot 45 percent, but made 11 of 28 (39 percent) from beyond the arc and turned 11 Aggie turnovers into 14 points.
"Those two guys (Falslev and Collins) are two of the best players in the league," Calhoun said. "They really stepped up. Some other guys couldn't find the basket. That's going to happen. We have to be grateful that we won and understand that we need to play better."
Wyoming was missing two big guys to injuries, which gave the Aggies the green light to attack the paint.
"We just got downhill on them," Falslev said. "Our game plan was to attack."
Joining Falslev in double-digit scoring was Collins (20) and guard Drake Allen (10). Garry Clark added nine.
The Cowboys were led by Damorion Dennis with 20 points and six rebounds. Meyer netted 19, while Leland Walker added 15 and had five assists. Khaden Bennett finished with 11 points and game-best seven rebounds.
It was a wild first 20 minutes to start the game. Both teams had impressive runs and each also had extended scoring droughts as there were eight lead changes and three ties in the opening half.
Adlan Elamin threw down a long pass from Falslev to start the scoring. Then each team scored five unanswered points.
The Cowboys built a 13-7 lead after scoring eight straight points. The Aggies went more than four minutes without scoring and nearly five minutes between field goals.
USU used six straight points to tie the game at 13-13 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
Wyoming answered with a 7-1 surge to match its largest lead and build a 20-14 lead with 9:34 left before halftime.
Then the Aggies caught fire. First, they scored seven straight as Kolby King knocked down a pair of free throws, Collins drove in for two, and Allen drilled a 3-pointer to put the visitors back in front, 21-20.
After a Cowboy bucket, the Aggies heated up. USU scored 11 consecutive points, beginning with a three-point play by Falslev. Zach Keller would knock down two buckets, and Falslev had the other seven points as the Aggies took a 32-22 lead with 4:56 left in the half.
After a timeout, the Cowboys then took their turn at scoring 11 straight points. Wyoming got a trio of 3-pointers to get back in front, 33-32.
Falslev hit a 3-pointer to end the scoring drought and made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds. USU took a 39-35 lead into the break.
Wyoming had seven offensive rebounds in the first half, which it turned into 10 points. USU countered with 22 points in the paint. Cowboys made six 3-pointers in the first half.
There was more wild momentum swings to come in the second half.
"If we want to be the team we want to be, we need to defend better," Falslev said. "We will work on that and strive to be better in the following games. … We knew that they (Cowboys) are all capable shooters. Unfortunately, we struggled to get out to them. They set some good screens and got a lot of open threes. It was a lack of focus and executing our game plan."
Having scored the final four minutes of the opening half, the Aggies scored the first five to start the second as Collins hit a trey, and Keller scored to give USU a 44-35 lead.
Wyoming didn't flinch and responded with nine straight points, including a four-point play by Dennis, to tie the game at 44-44.
"There were a lot of big shots," Calhoun said. "It was a fun game to watch for the fans. They had a great crowd for our last time playing in here. It's a tough place to play."
It stayed close until the Aggies strung together eight unanswered points. Another three-point play by Falslev sparked the run. Collins had a slam on a fastbreak off a long pass from Allen and then made two free throws. Allen made a foul shot to give USU a 72-61 lead with 6:44 to play.
The Aggies were still up by 11 with less than three minutes to play, but the Cowboys never gave up. They got within one. A missed shot by Wyoming turned into a scramble for the rebound. Perryman came up with the ball to help USU escape with the win.
"We just weren't ready," Falslev said. "We overlooked them and just weren't locked in. … We are going to have a better mentality going forward."
