Utah State comes up short in physical battle against Wyoming
The Utah State Aggies were back in the Spectrum for the first time since Dec. 21 to start conference play after two previous home games were postponed due to COVID in opposing team’s programs. The Aggies hosted the Wyoming Cowboys who hadn’t played a game since Dec. 25 due to the same problems.
The pent-up energy made itself prevalent in the Spectrum with both teams playing very physical basketball in a game that saw 35 total fouls called. The Aggies would ultimately fall to the Cowboys 71 to 69 after trading buckets through most of the second half.
Justin Bean notched his 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds, but the star Wyoming duo of Hunter Maldonado and Graham Ike proved too much to handle. Ike had 23 points and eight rebounds while Maldonado had 21 points and eight rebounds as the pair scored nine out of the last ten Wyoming field goals to finish the game.
“Obviously, their big two came out in a big way,” Head Coach Ryan Odom said postgame. “They did a magnificent job, and I was really impressed with their performance today.”
The Aggies entered the locker room locked at 31 despite opening the game shooting 0-9 from three and being down by 10 at one point in the half. The two teams traded baskets during the second half before Wyoming’s Maldonado scored six straight unanswered to give the Cowboys a seven-point lead.
The late-game heroics from Maldonado appeared to spell the end of the Aggies’ night, but they still had more fight in them. Utah State proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to take a two-point lead as the Spectrum, and the fans within it, erupted.
Back-to-back Wyoming baskets took back the lead before a Bean jumper tied the game once more with 26 seconds left. The Cowboys went to their well one last time giving Ike the ball to hit a turnaround jumper with three seconds left.
Jones, who registered 19 points on the night, saw his near half-court heave go long as the clock expired to hand the Aggies their third conference loss.
Utah State has struggled with finishing late in games this season with now three losses coming on the last shot of the game.
“The last few minutes is the last few minutes, but there’s a lot of possessions in the game,” Jones said after the loss. “There were a lot of possessions throughout the whole game that could have changed the way the game ended. We’ve got to be the team that finishes more possessions.”
The Aggies will look to get back in the win column against Fresno State on Tuesday and will be back home Thursday to take on Boise State.