Aggies fight, fall to Arizona in second round
SAN DIEGO – After 35 minutes of hard-fought basketball, Utah State trailed national title favorite Arizona by four, 63-59. Drake Allen, who finished the game with 11 points, had just hit a three, trimming the deficit to four points for the third time.
Allen’s Aggies trailed by as many as 18 not ten minutes earlier, but a furious rally from Utah State, at one point holding the Wildcats without a field goal for over seven minutes, had made the game tighter than anticipated.
With five minutes left in the game, Utah State was again in a dogfight in the final minutes of an NCAA tournament game.
On the ensuing Arizona possession, Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley broke the USU press, taking the ball inside for a layup to again put distance from the upset hopefuls. Bradley finished the game with a game-high 18 points on 6-16 shooting.
A missed jump shot from MJ Collins Jr. on the next Aggie possession gave the ball back to Bradley, where USU promptly sent him to the free-throw line to shoot two of Arizona’s 39 total free-throw attempts.
Bradley hit one of two, which was answered with a quick layup from Allen, but a rapid 4-0 run from Motiejus Krivas at the line all but extinguished the Aggies’ flickering upset hopes at 70-61. Collins and Brayden Burries traded threes, but four straight missed three-point prayers from the Aggies tipped the deficit into double-digits, where it would finally rest at 78-66 when the final horn sounded.
“Proud of our guys. All year long, to do some of the things that this group was able to accomplish is not easy,” head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “Wearing the Utah State uniform truly meant something to these guys. I think you saw that in their fight the last seven, eight minutes, their refuse-to-lose mentality.”
Briggs Rober Utah State and Arizona players look toward an official during Sunday’s game in the NCAA tournament second round.
The Mountain West regular and tournament champions gave it their all, but lackluster three-point shooting and dominating Arizona size ultimately sent them packing.
“When you can’t find it, the ball won’t go in from three, you’ve got to get to the rim,” Calhoun said. “But to beat a 1 seed, when you’re a 9 seed, you’ve got to make those threes.”
Arizona game out in control, getting out to an early 10-2 lead as the Aggies, after an initial Adlan Elamin midrange jumper, missed four straight shots, prompting a timeout from Calhoun.
Out of the timeout, Collins scored five straight for USU with a tip-in two-pointer and a three-pointer, Utah State’s lone triple of the first half. Arizona responded to keep the Aggies at arm’s length, trading baskets with USU.
With just under 10 minutes left in the half, back-to-back layups from Zach Keller and Elijah Perryman cut the deficit to three, as the Wildcats led 19-16.
It wouldn’t get closer than that the rest of the way, as Arizona scored eight unanswered during a USU scoring drought of over four minutes to make it an 11-point game.
The rest of the half saw the Wildcats similarly struggle to get it rolling on offense, finishing the half making just two if its final 12 shots over the final eight minutes.
Utah State struggled to close the gap despite the cold Arizona shooting, as it continued to struggle knocking down shots and continued to give Arizona points at the foul line.
Arizona took a 33-24 lead into the locker room after holding the Aggies to just 36.6% shooting in the first half. Utah State also finished the first half just 1-12 from deep, coming two days after a 2-16 three-point performance against Villanova two days prior.
“Just overall, what the game needs, keep pushing, keep playing, try to speed them up. You’ll have some bad shooting nights,” Calhoun said. “We picked a couple of games to not shoot the ball great.”
Briggs Rober Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun is interviewed during the game against Arizona on Sunday
The Wildcats, when forced to earn points away from the charity stripe, didn’t see the ball go in at a much higher rate, shooting just 29% from the floor in the first half and 39% in the game overall, the same game shooting percentage as USU.
Both teams came out of the locker room with intensity, though Arizona quickly distanced itself with a quick 5-0 run early in the half. A 9-0 Wildcat run two minutes later made it a 51-33 lead, the largest of the game, and forced a Utah State timeout with 14:43 remaining.
The Aggies, as they have all year, again responded out of the timeout, scoring six unanswered to close it to 12, capped by a Collins jumper with 12:10 left.
After the 9-0 Arizona run, the Wildcats didn’t make another field goal until the 6:55 mark, a layup from Bradley to give them a 58-51 lead. Arizona got five points on free throws during the shooting drought, just enough to keep the Aggies at bay.
Not 20 seconds later, Allen hit a three that cut the Arizona lead to four points, the closest the game had been since Keller and Perryman cut it to three with 8:44 left in the first half. Arizona proceeded to make four of its next five shots, along with some free throws, to pull away and send itself to a fourth Sweet 16 in five years.
“It’s a gritty team. We had a bunch of dogs in the locker room. They made runs; we made runs. We believed that we belonged here,” forward Garry Clark said. “It wasn’t a surprise to us, just clawing back, possession by possession. And it didn’t end how we wanted it to, but I’m proud of how everybody fought.”
Briggs Rober Junior guard Mason Falslev sits during player intros in the NCAA tournament second round on Sunday.
Calhoun and the Aggies came into the matchup with Arizona’s interior size at the top of the scouting report. They likely left Viejas Arena on Sunday night with that size still on the mind after getting out-rebounded 54-26 and committing 25 fouls.
“You can’t simulate the size…That’s the difference. That’s the difference in the game is their physicality and their size,” Calhoun said. “To get outrebounded by 28, I’ve never been a part of that.”
Utah State finishes the season with a 29-7 record, capping off a season complete with two conference titles and the program’s second NCAA tournament win in the last three years in Calhoun’s second year at the helm.
Despite the close loss, the Aggies feel there is much more to be remembered than the result Sunday night.
“We’ve accomplished so much…I think that we should keep our heads high. We should be proud of the year that we had, no matter what the way it ended,” Allen said. “The way it went right here in this last game, we should hold our heads high and be proud.”