Can Utah State Get Right Vs Air Force On Senior Night?
Mar 5, 2025, 11:37 AM | Updated: 11:43 am
Photo courtesy of Eileen Woodings and Utah State Athletics.
LOGAN, Utah- Back in October, it would have been hard to imagine for any Aggies fan that the week before the Mountain West Tournament, Utah State would be 24-6 and a virtual lock for an at-large bid to make the NCAA Tournament. What first-year head coach Jarrod Calhoun has done with a roster comprised of mostly new additions has been nothing short of miraculous.
However, in context and despite the overall record, it was a tumultuous week for the Utah State Aggies, who suffered back-to-back losses for the first time all season to Boise State and Colorado State by a combined 44 points. Neither loss on its own is extremely worrisome considering the Rams and the Broncos both have 20+ wins and are contenders for the conference tournament title, however, the nature of each loss and the timing as the calendar turned to March, has left many Aggies fans unsettled going into postseason play.
Nevertheless, Utah State has one more chance to get right before the regular season ends, and they’ve got just the game to do it. On senior night and in the final game at The Spectrum this season, the Utah State Aggies will host the Air Force Falcons, who own the conference’s worst record at 1-18.
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Recent Struggles For The Utah State Aggies
In their last two games, the Aggies only scored 65 and 66 points, which is nearly 16 points lower than their season-scoring average of 81.3.
Against Boise State, Utah State performed well in the first half and only entered the halftime break trailing by six on the road. However, the Aggies couldn’t keep pace down the stretch.
It was a completely different story in Fort Collins against Colorado State. The Rams stunned the Aggies out of the gate, jumping out to an 18-2 lead in the first five minutes, putting the game out of reach before Utah State really knew what hit them. Utah State would not only allow Colorado State to score their most in a conference regular season game in five years, but it would go on to be the Aggies’ worst conference loss since joining the Mountain West.
Over the two-game losing streak, some new issues have emerged for the Aggies, and some season-long ones caught up to Utah State.
Free Throw Shooting
Free throw shooting for the Utah State Aggies has been streaky at best. Although they are middle of the pack in the conference at 70% on the season, the fluctuation from game to game has been problematic.
Against Boise State, the Aggies left seven points on the table, which could have easily changed the dynamic of a game that was close until the last ten minutes.
Defense
Against the Broncos and Rams, Utah State allowed more than 80 points, which had only happened six times previously during the season, and only one other time in consecutive games, but they were both wins. That has been a theme for the Aggies, if they give up a lot of points, they still simply outpace their opponent and come out on top. Utah State has the firepower to beat teams in a shootout, but if the ball isn’t falling through the bucket, the Aggies have found themselves in a deep hole.
In Fort Collins, Utah State and Colorado State took the same amount of three-pointers, but the Rams made twice as many, highlighting some close-out issues.
Inconsistency From Top Scorers
Ian Martinez and Mason Falslev have been far and away the Aggies’ biggest threats on the offensive end. Together they account for 39% of Utah State’s points and are the ones with the ball in their hands in big moments.
When Utah State wins, it usually looks like Martinez and Falslev hitting their averages, and even if they don’t, one or two other guys will chime in with a big night. In their last win against San Diego State, it was Deyton Albury and Dexter Akanno who stepped up, against Colorado State at home, Aubin Gateretse added 16 points. You get the picture.
In the loss to Boise State, Mason Falslev scored 19, but Martinez only added 10, and against Colorado State, Ian Martinez dropped 17, but Falslev only had two buckets. This is a theme that can be seen in other big Utah State losses throughout the season. In the first conference loss to UNLV, Falslev only scored eight, then in the first loss to New Mexico, the pair only combined for 14, and in the second loss they combined for 48, but other than 13 from Drake Allen, nobody else really contributed.
While it is obviously not the sole responsibility of only Ian Martinez and Mason Falslev to score, they are going to have to be on if the Aggies want to make a run in March. Guard play is what wins games in the college basketball postseason, and when Ian and Mason are clicking, they are one of the most lethal duos in the country.
The Solution? Jerrod Calhoun Says Rest.
When the Aggies opened conference play back in December, they played six games in 19 days, which was a game nearly every three days, an unusual amount for a college basketball team. At the end of that six-game stretch, Utah State suffered its first conference loss of the season to UNLV.
After the loss, the Aggies had seven days off between games, which propelled them to a three-game winning streak and eight wins in ten games. Now, a month and a half later, Utah State has played 12 games with some tight turnaround and a max of five days between games.
Now, of course, at this time of the year, every team is banged up and tired, but in the final three games of the recent stretch, the Aggies played San Diego State, at Colorado State, and at Boise State, which would be difficult for any team in the country.
“That’s life in the Mountain West,” Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun said on DJ & PK about the quality of opponents in the conference. “Every college basketball game in the league is really, really difficult. I think Colorado State is playing as good as anybody in the country, I think Boise State is playing as good as anybody in the country. I thought offensively we were stymied, and defensively, we weren’t very good.”
The Aggies ran into two of the hottest teams in the nation who are playing inspired basketball at the beginning of March as they both fight to be on the right side of the bubble come Selection Sunday, and now with the consecutive losses behind them, this week of rest could play a huge factor as Utah State looks to make a run in March.
“I think for us, we needed some rest. I think it’s a very, very long season,” Calhoun admitted. “I think sometimes, coaches can overdo it… You just try to be very, very careful this time of year, you’re an injury away from the season taking even a tougher turn… Come March, you gotta have a fresh mind, you gotta have fresh legs.”
Utah State And Air Force’s First Meeting
The Aggies and Falcons met for the first time this year in Colorado Springs on January 25. It was the second game of a three-game win streak following Utah State’s first conference loss to UNLV the week before.
While it was only a single-digit lead for the Aggies at halftime, it was never really much of a contest. 12 Aggies got action and Mason Falslev was the only member of the team who surpassed 30 minutes as Calhoun spread playing time around.
Ian Martinez led Utah State in scoring with 16 and shot better than 50% from three-point range. Isaac Johnson also had his best game of the year off the bench with 12 points, all three-pointers.
Utah State And Air Force In The Regular Season Finale
With Saturday’s matchup being the only thing standing in the way of these two teams and the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas, there is certainly more on the line for the Aggies than The Falcons.
Air Force only has one conference win and is slotted to be the No. 11 seed in the Mountain West Tournament. The Falcons haven’t been competitive in most of their game with an average margin of defeat of 17.22 in conference play.
Utah State cannot afford a close call on Saturday. While the Aggies are comfortably in the tournament right now, a Quad 4 loss at home could decimate their at-large resume, and even a close win could hurt the team’s confidence at the worst time.
Yes, Air Force has one win in conference play, but just last year, a two-win Falcons team went into The Pit in late February and beat New Mexico, a loss that would have kept the Lobos out of March Madness had they not won the Mountain West Tournament.
On paper, this is a game that the Aggies should win running away, and if they can do exactly that, they will carry that momentum right into the quarter-finals of the Mountain West Tournament.
How To Watch Utah State vs Air Force
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The Utah State Aggies will host the Air Force Falcons on Saturday, March 8, with tipoff at 2:00 p.m. MT. You can watch it on the Mountain West Network.
