Utah State Tramples South Florida Bulls To Stay Undefeated
Dec 14, 2024, 4:01 PM | Updated: Dec 17, 2024, 2:15 pm
LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State Aggies and Mason Falslev are firing on all cylinders under Jerrod Calhoun, controlling the action in an 88-67 win over South Florida. With the victory, the Aggies improved to 10-0 for the first time in program history. Only seven unbeaten teams remain in the NCAA.
Utah State (10-0, 1-0) hosted the South Florida Bulls (5-5) at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday, December 14.
RELATED: Utah State Wins Ninth-Straight, Blows Out Utah Tech
𝙒𝙒𝙒𝙒𝙒𝙒𝙒𝙒𝙒𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙀𝘼𝙈 🤘
10-IN-A-ROW for your Aggies!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/Br9GXn1YrY
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 14, 2024
Hometown hero Mason Falslev led the way, finishing one point shy of a career-high with 27. The sophomore added nine boards and nine assists, ending up just shy of a triple-double. Falslev paced USU in all three categories.
Ian Martinez added 15 points and five assists, with Utah State shooting 60.7 percent in the second half and 50 percent for the game. Karson Templin chipped in 12, with Aubin Gateretse contributing 11 points and six rebounds.
Three Bulls scored double-digits, led by 12 from Quincy Ademokoya.
The Aggies harassed South Florida into 22 turnovers, scoring 29 points off giveaways.
First Half
The Aggies missed five of their first six shots, falling behind 5-2 in the first four minutes.
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Karson Templin and Mason Falslev gave USU its first lead with an 8-0 run before the second media timeout. Utah State’s pressure defense was limited early, with the officials calling four open-court fouls in the first six minutes.
KT for the early lead! 🔥 @karsontemplin #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/KsM2D1NiPe
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 14, 2024
The Aggies started to find their footing, especially in the paint, relying on its size advantage to create mismatches. Nine offensive rebounds gave the Aggies second-chance points, allowing them to build a 26-19 lead with 5:42 left.
Falslev was hot from deep, hitting three consecutive triples while grabbing five rebounds and four assists in the first 15 minutes.
Caught 'em sleeping 💤#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/1foly8xoQA
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 14, 2024
After USU extended its lead to 14, South Florida’s defense pressured the Aggies into some careless play on offense. A quick 5-0 run from the Bulls’ Jayden Reid cut the lead to 37-28 with 44 seconds left.
The Bulls hit a three before the horn to trail 37-31 at the break.
Second Half
The Aggies came out aggressive, forcing turnovers on three of South Florida’s first four possessions. Despite the increased intensity, the Bulls kept the deficit in single digits through the first media timeout.
Strong start to the second half 💪#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/ClGAIAFfke
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 14, 2024
The lead ballooned to 14 when the Bulls’ seventh turnover of the half turned into a lob dunk from Falslev to Ian Martinez.
𝙇𝙊𝙊𝙆 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙊𝙒 👀@mason_falslev ➡️ @IanJumaine #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/XwvR0k3dqT
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 14, 2024
Utah State made eight of nine shots at one point to take a 69-55 lead with 7:46 left.
The lead swelled to 20 when Tucker Anderson swished a transition three.
USU held on for an 88-67 win to reach 10-0 for the first time in program history.
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Utah State will take on UC San Diego at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Tuesday, December 17. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. MT.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here.
