How To Watch: Utah State Heads To Wyoming To Take On Cowboys
Feb 4, 2025, 4:31 PM | Updated: 4:34 pm
Photo courtesy of Utah State Athletics.
LOGAN, Utah- The Utah State Aggies will look to rebound this week after suffering their largest margin of defeat of the season on Saturday night in a 19-point loss at The Spectrum to New Mexico.
The Aggies will have the chance to cleanse their pallets with a quick turnaround, taking on the Wyoming Cowboys on Tuesday, February 4, at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie in their first of two road games this week.
𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 🤘
🆚 Wyoming
➡️ 6:30 PM | Laramie, WY
📺 https://t.co/gufagKB764
🔊 https://t.co/maMC38nN6C pic.twitter.com/lrjk8UrLDF— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 4, 2025
Utah State’s Loss To New Mexico
It was a sold-out crowd in Logan for “Spectrum Magic” night as 10,270 Aggies fans packed in to watch a battle for first place in the Mountain West Conference between the Utah State Aggies and New Mexico Lobos.
It was a low-scoring first half in which both teams were stout defensively. Ian Martinez and Mason Falslev for Utah State and Donovan Dent for New Mexico were not huge factors, but the Aggies did take a six-point lead into the halftime break.
To open the second half, it seemed that the Aggies were going to build on their momentum after a steal from Drake Allen turned into a breakaway dunk, giving Utah State a nine-point lead with 15:24 to go, however, following the basket from Allen, the Lobos went on to outscore the Aggies 43-17 to close out the game.
Utah State’s scoring drought was mirrored by poor defense as Donovan Dent and Nelly Junior Joseph supplied the majority of New Mexico’s scoring output, combining for 21 points in the second half. Joseph finished with a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds, a performance that earned him Mountain West Player of the Week.
The Aggies also faced major issues from the free-throw line. In a tightly called game in which Utah State and New Mexico combined for 50 free throws, the Aggies went 10-23, missing out on 13 valuable points.
Drake Allen expounded on the team’s late-game execution, saying, “We’ve had a struggle with putting games away. Up six going into the second half and then getting it up to nine, we gotta sit down, get stops, and put the ball in the basket.”
Utah State vs Wyoming
The Utah State Aggies and Wyoming Cowboys have already met once this season, but it was in a one-off conference matchup in just the Aggies’ eighth game of the season.
The matchup at The Spectrum came down to the wire, with the Aggies coming out on top 70-67 as a game-tying heave from Wyoming bounced off the rim as time expired. Ian Martinez had 23 points and five rebounds, and Mason Falslev had 19 points and six rebounds, fitting into the early season theme of the two prolific scorers carrying the load for Utah State.
Wyoming is currently 11-11 (4-7) and sits at eighth in the conference and 169th in the net, however, the Cowboys are not to be overlooked, despite their record.
Sundance Wicks is in his first year as head coach in Laramie and has his team playing at a high level, but closing out tight games has been an issue. While the Cowboys don’t score a ton of points, they hold opponents to only 70.5 points per game, 11 points less than Utah State’s scoring average.
Wyoming does have a couple of impressive wins on their resume over Nevada and UNLV. The Cowboys also have a three-point loss to Loyola Marymount, a five-point loss to Boise State, and a two-point loss to San Diego State to go along with their near win over Utah State. They also led the conference-leading New Mexico Lobos by 14 at halftime before a collapse in the second half.
The Aggies already know that this team can hang around, and if Utah State is not careful, they could suffer consecutive regular-season losses for only the third time in the last three seasons.
How To Watch Utah State vs Wyoming
The Utah State Aggies and Wyoming Cowboys will tip off from Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming, tonight at 6:30 p.m. MT. You can tune in on the Mountain West Network.
