No. 22 USU Clinches Share Of Mountain West Regular Season Crown With Win Over San Jose State
Mar 6, 2024, 9:41 PM | Updated: Mar 7, 2024, 2:49 pm
SAN JOSE, California – Mountain West champs has a nice ring to it, especially for a Utah State team picked to finish ninth in the preseason MW polls. USU continues rolling, winning its final road test of the season in dominating fashion, topping SJSU 90-70.
No. 22 Utah State (25-5, 13-4) was in the Bay Area to face the San Jose State (9-22, 2-16) Spartans in its final road game of the season.
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Spartan SWEEP!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/2SVhOyR5Nh
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 7, 2024
Darius Brown II scored his game-high 21 points from deep, knocking down 7-9 threes. The senior point guard added nine assists and five rebounds. Mason Falslev added 20 points, while Great Osobor scored 16 and grabbed eight rebounds. Javon Jackson scored 15 points off the bench for USU.
Myron Amey Jr. led the Spartans with 20 points. Alvaro Cardenas added 18 points in the loss.
First Half
Mason Falslev and Darius Brown II led the charge in the first half as the USU offense ran circles around the Spartans. Falslev scored 13 points, with Brown II adding 12 points and eight assists. The duo hit 9 of 11 shots, with Brown knocking down four shots from deep.
Downtown. Darius. Brown.
⚡️ @dariusbrownii
📺 CBS Sports Network | https://t.co/SIesK7ApoO#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/sJC5vqsHSC— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 7, 2024
The Aggies used a seven-player rotation in the opening 20 minutes, with everybody but Josh Uduje scoring a bucket. Utah State made 9 of 14 (64.3 percent) threes.
The Aggies closed the half on a 16-4 run to build a 53-37 halftime advantage.
Second Half
The momentum carried into the second half for the Aggies. USU extended its lead with a pair of threes from Brown II.
🔥🔥🔥
⚡️ @dariusbrownii
📺 CBS Sports Network | https://t.co/SIesK7ApoO#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/y1ZIf0cfHr— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 7, 2024
San Jose State was never able to get the game within single digits after the half, trailing by as many as 21 points late.
Mason Falslev gave Aggie fans a scare when he left the game after appearing to turn an ankle with less than two minutes to play.
With the win tonight, @USUBasketball has clinched at least a share of the #MWMBB regular-season title 🙌🐮#AtThePEAK | #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/3CEiY5EAa2
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 7, 2024
USU held on for a 90-70 road win.
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The No. 22 Aggies return to Logan on Saturday, March 9, to host the New Mexico Lobos. Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. MT. USU holds a 27-10 advantage in the all-time series against UNM. Utah State is 13-2 at home against the Lobos but dropped their only matchup this season, 99-86 in mid-January. The loss snapped USU’s 15-game winning streak.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering the Utah State Aggies, Locals in MLB, and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees, Beehive baseball, and Aggie athletics coverage here.
