Spectrum Magic didn’t hold up against the Wolf Pack as Aggies take second conference loss in a row
LOGAN — After a devastating loss against the San Diego Aztecs on Saturday, the Utah State Aggies battled against the Nevada Wolf Pack in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The final score was 77-63 in favor of Nevada, the Aggies’ first home court loss of the season.
The Aggies poll position did drop six spots over the weekend from 17 to 22, just below Brigham Young University at 21.
“We didn’t play hard enough. I didn’t coach good enough. And credit to Nevada, I thought they played really well,” said head coach Danny Sprinkle in a postgame interview.
The Aggies came into this game with some impressive stats: they are ranked as sixth in defensive 3-point field goal percentage, (.283) eighth in field goal percentage, (.499) and 17th in assists per game (17.27).
Utah State is 16-0 for recording more defensive rebounds than its opponents.
In the preseason polls, the Aggies were ranked ninth. Coming into this game, they were ranked first in the Mountain West.
On average, Aggie wins this season have included 30 rebounds, 11.5 assists and 6.4 steals. Opponents have been held to and average of 66.6 points.
The game, with the crowd in attendance at 8,860, was also Spectrum Magic night, organized by the HURD. Free t-shirts covered the seats in the student section, and the halftime performance was a magic show.
Tate Bennett, athletics and campus recreation executive director, spoke on the importance of the event.
“I think it’s like a celebration of the homecourt advantage that we have here,” he said.
Bennett said the structure of the building as well as the crowd are what contribute to the magic at home.
The referees for the game were Kevin Brill, Ryan Holmes and Scott Brown.
In the first period, Isaac Johnson slammed down a dunk and gave an assist to Great Osobor. About two plays later, Osobor blocked a member of the Wolf Pack.
Utah State has had at least four players score in double figures in 11 games this season, and they are 10-1 when at least four Aggies score 10 points or more.
Darius Brown II got his first points of the game with a three-pointer. He ranks fifth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.95) and seventh in assists per game (6.82).
Osobor got an and-one shot and made the free-throw to make it a three-point play. He ranks 29th in the nation in field goal percentage at .593, 30th in rebounds per game, and is 39th for defensive rebounds at 6.55 per game.
Brown got a steal to the keep the game rolling on the offensive side; however, the Aggies couldn’t make anything of it.
The Spectrum Magic seemed to be working as the HURD was getting in the heads of some of the Nevada players. No. 13 Kenan Blackshear pointed at the crowd after a foul he made on Osobor, and the refs called a timeout.
The players did not come into the game with chips on their shoulders, but by halftime, the tension between the teams was rancid.
Utah State is 10-0 when recording more steals than its opponent. However, the Aggies went into the second half down one steal.
Osobor stole the ball from Nevada and landed a dunk, but he was slow to return on defense and caused Johnson to draw a foul on the other end.
Mason Falslev drained a three-pointer to get something going for the Aggies, as they were down 40-32 at 17 minutes left in the half. He has been a great addition to the team, with his speed and ability to make a shot from the line at 76.5%.
Ian Martinez drained a three to bring the Aggies within six of the Wolf Pack.
Osobor had his game cut out for him going against returning Nevada senior Nick Davidson, who sat at 15 points and 8 rebounds with 12 minutes left in the second half and a score of 50-45 for Nevada.
The Aggies were in foul trouble at eight fouls for the team with 11:22 left in the half. Even with a loud crowd to help them out, the Aggies couldn’t seem to get the referees on their side.
Osobor received his fourth personal foul for the night at about 10 minutes left in the game. This forced Sprinkle to put him on the bench and sub in Johnson.
Falslev went coast to coast and scored a quick bucket, but more importantly, he got the crowd back into the game.
Nevada kept their lead from the first half up through the second half. The score stood at 59-51 with 7:27 left in the game.
Osobor sent a no-look bounce pass to Josh Uduje for an easy lay-up, which got the crowd cheering.
With about a minute and a half left in the game, fans started to leave the Spectrum. The score was at 76-58 in favor of Nevada.
“People out there, they deserve more from us, and that’s our bad,” said Falslev said in a postgame interview. “I hate losing at home.”
The fouls were what kept the Aggies behind in this game, according to Falslev.
“I think what killed us is they got a lot of and-ones,” he said.
Falslev took this game as an opportunity to get better.
“We learn from our losses, and we learn from our wins,” he said.
Sprinkle had similar sentiments to Falslev.
“We have to get back to the fundamentals and the basics,” he said.
Davidson dominated Osobor in the post over this game. When asked about this, Sprinkle said, “Play harder…We made it really easy for them to just throw the ball into the post.”
Falslev summed up the overall message from the postgame interviews.
“I promise you, we’ll work harder,” he said.
The Aggies play Boise State on Saturday at home. The game will be the unveiling of the Stew Morrill court in honor of his legacy at Utah State.