LOGAN — It was a Senior Day to remember for the Aggies Saturday afternoon at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Utah State men's basketball team captured the Mountain West Conference title outright in thrilling fashion in front of a sold-out arena of 10,270. The Aggies overcame a halftime deficit to beat New Mexico, 94-90, in the regular season finale in the final year in the league. USU moves to the PAC-12 next year.
"Not too many people are able to say that they won anything, especially not in college," USU guard MJ Collins Jr. said. "With this group of guys, coaching staff, I'm fortunate to say that I'm a champion. That's something that nobody will ever forget, and it's what we live for. This was our goal coming in on June 1, when we first figured out who everybody was and were seeing each other for the first time, so it's just an unbelievable achievement to be able to carry it out from June 1, up until today."
It was the second outright MW championship for the Aggies (25-6, 15-5 MW) in the last three years. USU shared the title in 2019. Saturday marked the third in 13 years in the MW.
"I thought our guys were just resilient, and I thought we got great efforts from a lot of guys," USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "Obviously, MJ carried us in the second half. We shared the ball, made timely plays, and it was just a great college basketball game."
The five seniors were honored after the game. Garry Clark, Zach Keller, Kolby King, Collins and Drake Allen each had a highlight video played and then were surrounded by family.
"I thought Drake Allen was unbelievable, 14 (points) seven (assists) and five (rebounds)," Calhoun said. "… Drake was a warrior all year long. He won a championship and was awesome.
"… The time with these guys (seniors) goes by so fast, especially when you have them for just one year. They are wonderful people and you can't thank them enough for what they have done. You want them to go out on top."
Following the Senior Day festivities, the Aggies cut down the net on the west side of Stew Morrill Court.
"My family has sacrificed a lot for me," Collins said. "… Being able to do this in front of them and for them just meant the world to me. … My dad gave me a big hug and told me we did it. This moment ranks one for sure. Winning a championship goes down in the books forever."
Collins played a big role Saturday in the win against the Lobos (22-8, 13-6). He finished with a team-high 27 points and grabbed a team-best six rebounds. The guard scored 21 of his points in the second half.
"I was very determined," Collins said. "Coach cussed me and Mason (Falslev) out going up the tunnel, so it lit a fire inside of me, especially knowing that it's do-or-die time, especially knowing that I'm a senior and I'll only get one shot at it. This was our shot, and there's no better way to finish it than at home.
"I didn't want my teammates to go down with another loss, and I told them that last week against UNLV. I addressed the team and told them that it starts with me, I've got to play better. I told them that they could take my word that I wouldn't let them down come Saturday, and I kept my word for those guys."
Collins was perfect at the free throw line, making all nine of his attempts. In some close games, the Aggies have struggled at the foul line. Not Saturday. USU made a season-high 30 on a season-high 36 attempts.
"The difference tonight was the free throw line," Calhoun said. "These guys really wanted it."
The final 10 points of the game for the hosts came at the foul line in the final 68 seconds of the game.
Collins was joined in double-digit scoring by Mason Falslev (15), Karson Templin (15) and Allen (14). Keller, King and Clark added eight, seven and six points, respectively. Allen led the team with seven assists.
"I'm very proud of Kolby King, Garry Clark, the guys who really haven't won anything, now they are able to go to the tournament," Collins said. "This is my first ring in college and I'm very thankful. Utah State, that's my school. I've been to Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt, but this is my school.
"… We are a team. No one really cares who has the hot hand or who has the most points. We are going to share the ball and find mis-matches and attack them. We are all happy for each other. When we are clicking, that's when we are the best. … That's what it's all about, doing it together as a team."
The Lobos got a monster game out of freshman guard Jake Hall. He knocked down seven 3-pointers on his way to a game- and career-best 32 points.
"We let Jake Hall get going on some minor errors," Collins said. "Good players make big-time shots, that's what he did tonight. Kudos to him."
Hall was joined in double-figure scoring by Tajavis Miller (16), Uriah Tenette (14) and Tomislav Buljan (11), who had a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds. Tenette matched Allen with seven assists.
"First of all, that's an NCAA Tournament team if I've seen one," Calhoun said of the Lobos. "I really think (head) coach (Eric) Olen is one of the best in the country. I think Jake Hall, as we all saw tonight, how good of a player he really is, just a tremendous shooter. I haven't seen anything like it from a freshman in a long time."
After both teams traded buckets to begin the game, the Aggies strung together eight consecutive points to force a Lobo timeout. Keller scored in the paint, Collins converted a three-point play, and Falslev drained a 3-pointer off a saving pass from Adlan Elamin to give the hosts a 10-2 lead less than three minutes into the game.
USU extended its lead to 22-10 after a 9-3 surge. Clark threw down an alley--oop pass from Falslev to cap the run with 10:57 left in the opening half.
"When we started the game, I thought our defense was incredible," Calhoun said. "We were really guarding, deflecting passes and really guarding. Then Jake Hall happened. He just went off."
A minute later New Mexico scored its first back-to-back field goals of the game.
The Lobos put together a 7-0 run to get within 31-28 with 5:30 left in the first half. Hall drilled a 3-pointer to get the visitors within three.
New Mexico finished the first 20 minutes by going on another 7-0 run and taking its first lead of the game on a pair of free throws by Luke Haupt. The Lobos took a 43-42 lead into the break as both teas turned the ball over in a wild finish to the first half.
Hall had 19 points at halftime and became the highest scoring freshman in New Mexico history for a season, passing Kenny Thomas, who went on to the NBA.
The Aggies quickly grabbed the lead back to start the second half with a 12-2 run over the first four minutes. Allen started a 3-point barrage with a trey, followed by a pair of shots from beyond the arc by Collins. Templin scored off his own miss, was fouled and sank the free throw to give USU a 54-45 lead with 16:19 to play.
The Lobos fought back to within 64-62 with 11:10 left in the game, scoring six unanswered points. Another Hall trey sparked the surge.
The Aggies responded with a pair of treys from Collins and a three-point play by Falslev off of an offensive rebound to take a 73-66 lead with eight-and-a-half minutes to play.
An alley-oop pass from Templin to King for a slam gave USU a 77-68 lead with six minutes left in the game.
New Mexico would get as close as 92-90 with 7.1 seconds to play. King and Collins both made a pari of free throws to seal the victory.
"Our fans are so amazing, the community, this is an amazing accomplishment for all the guys," Collins said.
USU had lost three of its last four games coming in — all on road. The Aggies were able to shake that off and complete the sweep of the Lobos and also capture a league title.
