The winter break basketball breakdown

With the stress of the fall semester well behind us, many Aggie fans felt the need for a break from all things Utah State. We left campus and reunited with our friends and families, spent countless hours immersing ourselves in corny Christmas movies, and probably had a bit too much fun on New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile, the USU men’s and women’s basketball teams spent their winter breaks gearing up for conference play, preparing for the toughest stretches of their seasons. Here’s a quick recap of what you may have missed during the 23 day hiatus:

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The good news: this season has arguably been one of the most successful starts in program history. As of Jan. 2, the men’s team holds a 13-1 record, with their 10-0 start setting a program record. Head coach Jerrod Calhoun is the only USU coach to win his first nine games.

The Aggies’ most recent road trip showcased their potential to make noise come March. The team secured three consecutive victories against Saint Mary’s, San Diego State, and Nevada, all of whom rank among the top teams in their respective conferences. 

The most impressive of these recent wins had to be the Aggies’ 67-66 upset of San Diego State. The Aztecs entered the game ranked 20th in the nation, and USU made history by earning their first road win against an AP Top 25 team since 1991. Even better, the game was won in dramatic fashion when forward Tucker Anderson drilled the game-winning three with just a couple of seconds left to cap off the comeback victory.

“He (Anderson) is so deserving,” Calhoun said following the win. “He has been working with (assistant) coach (Mantoris) Robinson because he has been really struggling with his shot. So proud of him that he had the guts to take that shot.” 

This year’s team boasts incredible depth, with seemingly a different player being the hero night-to-night. Guard Mason Falslev has been most consistent in scoring, rebounding, and passing, so much so that he recently won the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week. Guard Ian Martinez has shown his ability to score in bunches, most notably when he scored 17 straight points for the Aggies in their win against Nevada. Forward Karson Templin has been one of the more reliable bench players in the country with his ability to bang inside and score from the outside.

“That’s the beauty of this team,” Calhoun said. “Anybody can do it on any given night. We certainly have a couple of stars, but we have a lot of good players.”

And now the bad news. The team finally suffered their first loss of the season on Dec. 17 against UC San Diego in a 75-73 heartbreaker. It wasn’t a poor showing by the Aggies by any means; they simply struggled to score in the second half, and the Tritons made enough plays down the stretch to secure the win.

With this single loss being a noticeable blemish on the program’s résumé this season, the Aggies remain unranked nationally despite their early historic brilliance. Prominent NCAA media correspondent Andy Katz called for the AP to give Utah State more consideration in a video he posted on X.

“Where is Utah State in the AP poll?” Katz asked in the video he did with Bleacher Report. “They knocked off Iowa in Kansas City. They also beat Saint Mary’s on the road, they beat San Diego State at the buzzer, and they beat St. Bonaventure who has had a great year. I ask and I’m not getting any answers.”

The men’s team will have the opportunity to earn the favor of the AP when they face conference rivals San Jose State on Jan. 7 and Boise State on Jan. 11.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

When first-year head coach Wesley Brooks arrived on campus in the fall, the entire culture changed within the women’s program. Brooks outlined many of his high expectations in an interview before the season on Media Day, and it may be most effective to evaluate the team’s performance so far in light of what he shared during that interview.

“We’re gonna run that 22. We brought the 22 to Logan. We’re gonna press.”

The “22” refers to a half-court press defense that emphasizes trapping the ball-handler and speed up offenses, forcing teams to take quick shots and preventing the ball from getting into the post. Coach Brooks was known for helping implement this strategy to much success when he was an assistant at Ohio State. However, the Aggies defense has been the worst in the Mountain West all season. The 78.1 points they allow per game is about 11 points worse than anyone else in the conference and is among the worst in all of college basketball. The press hasn’t been a complete failure, as USU has forced the third-most turnovers in the Mountain West. But once opponents break the press, the Aggies have struggled to recover.

“We’re probably gonna shoot more threes than we did at Ohio State.”

Done and done. Last year, Brooks’ Buckeyes averaged 21.3 three-point attempts per game. This year, USU is averaging a staggering 29.2 three point attempts per game, by far the highest mark in the Mountain West. For the Aggies, the issue hasn’t been taking the threes, it’s been making them. Their .281 three point percentage is second worst in the conference, and their opponents have been shooting at a .359 clip from distance, which ends up being a deadly combination. The lack of shooting efficiency has been a common theme for this team all year, but the shooting numbers have been trending upward in recent games, so let’s just hope that the efficiency can catch up to the volume moving forward.

“Cheyenne Stubbs is a hell of a player, I think very underrated,” Brooks said. “Should be on the Becky Hammon Watch List. We need to get her on there.”  

Stubbs unfortunately missed the cut on the Becky Hammon Watch List, and her season has certainly had its ups and downs. Her offensive skills, combined with her tenacity on both ends of the floor, make her capable of explosive individual performances. However, the team’s struggles have also resulted in some quiet nights for her. It didn’t help either when Stubbs missed a few weeks with plantar fasciitis, but she has been getting back into a groove since returning into the lineup. She’s had two of her better scoring performances back-to-back this past week against Colorado State and Wyoming, and she is doing so with a level of efficiency that wasn’t there earlier this season. Another area of growth for Stubbs has been her 2.9 assists per game, marking the best passing season of her career. Brooks has continually emphasized the need for Stubbs to become more efficient as a shooter and passer, and her recent showings might suggest a positive trend in that direction.

Yes, the team is 1-13. Yes, their defense has been horrific by all standards. And yes, their shooting hasn’t been what Brooks envisioned. But the team has shown some incremental improvements on both sides of the ball that can hopefully improve their competitiveness as we enter 2025. 

A recent sign of hope was the Aggies’ 83-74 loss to conference-leading Colorado State, a game in which Stubbs dominated with 27 points. As a team, they shot 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from three.

Freshman guard Carlie Latta has also been a recent revelation for the USU offense. A dominant scorer in high school, Latta struggled to find a rhythm early in the season but has scored in double figures in three of her last five games, including a career-high 19 points against Colorado State. 

The team is still young, with seven of the 16 players being freshmen, but there is hope that the growing pains of a team that has endured many challenges will soon start to fade.