Martinez’s heroic four-point play lifts Utah State to late victory

LOGAN, UT – With 15 seconds left and Utah State up by one, Boise State’s Alvaro Cardenas pulled and hit a dagger of a three-pointer to give his Broncos a two-point lead. Boise State had been hot from beyond the arc all night, and it looked as if they were going to close out a win on one last three-pointed dagger.

The Aggies quickly inbounded the ball and brought it up the floor before calling a timeout with nine seconds, down by two. Out of the timeout, it was Drake Allen to inbound with plenty of time to get a look at the rim to tie, or to go for the knockout in the form of a three.

Allen opted for the latter, inbounding the ball to Ian Martinez who pulled up, got the three off, and was fouled. With Martinez lying on the floor and the entire arena seemingly holding its breath, the ball took its sweet time bouncing around the rim before finally falling through. The sold-out Spectrum crowd of 10,270 erupted as the Aggies took back a two-point lead after Martinez’s made free throw.

The Broncos had just over seven seconds to get their final shot off, a Cardenas three that missed the mark lifting Utah State to their fifth straight win over Boise State.

“It felt like forever. I was just there on the ground, just watching it, hoping it went in,” said Martinez after the game. “It bounced about five times on the rim. It was crazy. I couldn’t believe it.”

“I mean, this is a team in every sense, and it’s fun to be a part of,” said head coach Jerrod Calhoun after the game. “And you know, we’re going to look back on this as one of those really, really big moments inside the Spectrum.”

The first half was a dog fight, with each squad getting out to a hot start. The Broncos opened the game hitting five of their first seven shots, and the Aggies hitting seven of their first nine at the first media timeout with 13:33 remaining.

Coming out of the timeout, the Aggies had a two-point lead, 16-14, and had led for most of the first half. Five quick BSU points gave them a three-point lead that Allen quickly erased with a three-pointer of his own, tying the game at 19. The first 10 minutes of the game saw four ties and five lead changes as the two teams battled back and forth.

With the game tied at 19, the Broncos went on an 8-2 run to put them ahead. Boise State shot the ball well in the first half, but they seemingly could not miss from three. They connected on six of their first seven shots from deep, helping them get the lead.

After two straight games where Utah State opponents have shot the lights out, coach Calhoun agrees there might be something to adjust.

“Yeah, it’s something that I and Coach Haut are going to get in here tomorrow and figure out, to be honest with you,” Calhoun said. “It’s basketball. It’s a game of numbers. Sometimes you play the numbers game, and they don’t work out.”

Finding themselves down six, the Aggies didn’t panic and battled for the rest of the half. USU trimmed the deficit to just one on four occasions but was unable to take the lead back. Similarly, Boise State’s lead never grew to more than six, making for an action-packed first half. The Broncos held on to the lead into the break, leading 38-34.

Boise State came out of the locker room firing, quickly rattling off nine unanswered points, giving them a 13-point lead before Calhoun called a timeout.

“I wanted to make sure what I was saying was direct, not over the top. I think you can kill guys’ confidence … but we just had to buckle down. We had to make better decisions with the ball. We had to make better decisions on defense,” Calhoun said. “But everybody was positive in the huddle they really were. And I think that goes a long way.”

After falling behind 47-34 just over two minutes into the half, the Aggies started methodically chipping away at the Broncos’ lead. USU battled for the next eight minutes to get back into the game. With his squad trailing 60-54 with just over ten minutes left in the game, Dexter Akkano scored five straight for the Aggies to pull them within one.

The Broncos responded accordingly, knocking down a few shots to give them some breathing room. The Aggies weren’t finished though and scored another six unanswered to take their first lead of the second half, 65-64.

Boise State did not go quietly into the night but continued to punch back down the stretch. Finding themselves down two with four minutes left, the Broncos went on a 6-0 run to pull out to a late four-point lead. The Aggies eventually re-took the lead with 30 seconds left before Cardenas hit his late three just before Martinez’s heroics.

As they have done so many times this year, Utah State again dug themselves out of a deficit before ultimately pulling out the win. After Boise State’s hot shooting, the Aggies answered with a hot hand of their own in the second half shooting 80% from the field and hitting seven of eight three-point attempts.

“I think it’s just kind of what Utah State does, even taking us back to last year. A lot of times towards the end where the game was really close and we were just able to close out the game,” Martinez said. “So, it doesn’t matter who’s coaching the team, who’s playing, I feel like it is just kind of part of the culture … we’re just tough, and we’re just going to try to win the game, do whatever it takes to win the game.”

The Aggies certainly did that tonight, despite tonight’s game not being their best in many regards. Boise State hit a total of 14 threes, out-rebounded USU, and had more points off turnovers than USU, all of which are uncharacteristic for the Aggie defense. Additionally, Utah State shot just 45% from the free-throw line while not recording a single steal.

Nonetheless, they yet again found a way to get the job done, moving to 6-0 in conference play and an impressive 16-1 record overall.

“The reason we’re whatever we are, 16 and one, is not only all the games we’ve won close but just the closeness of the team,” said Calhoun after the game. “And that makes a big difference in today’s college landscape.”

Utah State will look to continue its six-game winning streak on Wednesday on the road against UNLV.