Aggies survive shootout with Grizzlies; win 95-83 to stay perfect

Utah State men’s basketball reigned triumphantly on Monday night, defeating the Montana Grizzlies by a score of 95-83. Standout performances led the Aggies from guards Ian Martinez, who had a career-high 32 points and Mason Falslev, with a career-high-tying 25 points. 

The Aggies had to overcome a sluggish start to win on Monday. USU started the game by making just one of its first eight shot attempts and trailing 9-5 before the first media timeout. 

They would come out of that first timeout firing with back-to-back threes from Falslev and Isaac Johnson to take the lead. USU would hit on six of their first nine shots coming out of the first timeout, going on a 17-5 run to go up 22-14. 

Utah State turned to a press defense to pressure Montana and swing the momentum early in the first half.

“I get impatient when we don’t score … so if we’re not scoring, I’m going to probably ramp it up with either a diamond press or 1-2-2 press,” said head coach Jarred Calhoun after the game. “So I thought that changed it. It sped them up, and then they shot. We got out and ran. And that’s really what we do.”

Despite allowing Montana to shoot 60% from the field in the first half, the Aggies stayed in control through the end of the first half and took a 49-35 lead into the locker room.

Utah State made up for the Grizzlies’ hot shooting by winning the turnover battle 14-5 in the first half, scoring 18 points off those turnovers. The Aggies also had an impressive 17 free throw attempts to just one for Montana. 

Utah State finished the game with 36 total attempted free throws, which proved to be one of the critical factors in their win. 

The second half was reminiscent of the first half for each side. The Grizzlies started the half on a 15-2 run to pull within two, trailing 50-52. A timely three from Falslev stretched the lead to five for the Aggies. Montana got a made basket and hit a free throw to pull within two again. 

The Aggies were able to weather the storm once more, getting back-to-back buckets to extend their lead back to six. The Grizzlies hung around for much of the second half, led by guard Money Williams, who had a team-high 25 points, 19 coming in the second half. 

“We just had to try to stay more balanced throughout the game, not too high and not too low,” said Martinez postgame. “Especially when they’re getting it on the run, we just kind of had to keep a good attitude as a team and just try to stay in sync and take advantage every time we got a stop.”

After playing three near perfect games to open the season, the Aggies were challenged on Monday by a Montana team that was picked to win the Big Sky conference. The Grizzlies controlled the glass all night, outrebounding the Aggies 37-33. 

“It was the first time that I felt like as a coach here that we’re begging for effort … So, we’ve got to get some things corrected on defensive rebounding and guarding,” said Calhoun after the game. “We can’t give up 83 [points]. We know that we can get 90 to 100 [points] on most nights, but we can’t give up 83 points.”

Utah State will face its biggest test of the season on Friday evening. They will take on Iowa in a neutral-site game in Kansas City. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. Mountain time.