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LAS VEGAS — The Aggies led for a total of eight seconds, but it was just enough to notch them a critical road win against the UNLV Rebels. Utah State, now riding a 15-game win streak, won 87-86.
"What an unbelievable college basketball game," Utah State head coach Danny Sprinkle said. "That was a grit win, a culture win, a belief win, a program win, you name it. We needed all forty minutes."
After an ugly first half, in which Utah State trailed by double digits early, the Aggies fought back in the second half and cut the Rebels' lead to just one or two scores. Each time UNLV extended the lead beyond a few points, the Aggies fought back to give themselves a chance.
A controversial call late in the game gave Utah State the ball on an out-of-bounds play that seemed to clearly go off Mason Falslev; however, after review, the officials decided to keep the ball with Utah State. The Aggies benefited from the call as Darius Brown hit a 3-pointer on the possession, bringing the score to just 3 points.
"The game's over, the Aggies won, I have no comment," Sprinkle said jokingly when asked about the call after the game. "My gut, I thought it was off Mason from what I saw. I don't know. But I also do know they get that dunk (a controversial shot-clock violation call earlier in the game) where I want to say the ball was on that kid's fingertips when those red lights went off, and they got that dunk. And so I think that was just the basketball gods rewarding us."
It wasn't until eight seconds remaining, however, that the Aggies finally took the lead after the Rebels nearly led wire-to-wire at home (39 minutes and four seconds, to be exact).
Trailing by 4, Brown hit a clutch 3-point shot with eight seconds remaining. On the rebound attempt, as the shot was descending, Osobor was fouled and was awarded two free throws in addition to Brown's 3-pointer.
"I was like, if he misses … I'm going to get that rebound," Osobor said. "(Kalib Boone) boxed me out, I felt like he tackled me, low key, but boxout, tackle, it was a 50-50 play. But thankfully the refs (saw) it and they called it."
Kevin Kruger, the Rebels' head coach, called a timeout to ice Osobor, something Osobor said actually calmed him down prior to his free throws. After Sprinkle told his star he was "built for this" and his teammates encouraged him, Osobor said he said a quick prayer and went on to make both, essentially cementing a 5-point play to give the Aggies the lead.
"Two years ago, I don't know if he would have (made both)," Sprinkle said of Osobor. "He's really grown physically, spiritually, mentally — like, all of it."
Dedan Thomas Jr, for the Rebels, missed the buzzer-beater attempt on the next possession, sealing the unlikely victory for Utah State.
The Aggies' under-the-rim play struggled on both sides of the ball through much of the first half. Osobor, who went on to score 24 points and notch 14 rebounds and four assists, scored just 4 points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half.
It was the Aggies' 3-point shooting that kept them in the game, though. Utah State shot 10-of-21 from deep, led by Ian Martinez, who connected from deep six times (on eight 3-point shots) en route to 24 points.
"Ian's awesome," Osobor said. "I know he's struggled a little bit the past two games, but right before the game, I literally told Ian, I was like, 'Here's the type of game you're built for. We're on the road, no one here wants us to win, go show what you do.' (He's) a very tough shot maker. … If he sees one or two go in, it's a long night."
Utah State shot 23-of-25 from the line, an area that has proven to be exceptionally strong for the team in the past few games. UNLV, on the other hand, shot a respectable 23-of-30 from the line, but having seven missed free-throw attempts hurt following a 1-point Rebels loss.
The Rebels were led by Luis Rodriguez, who scored 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He also notched nine rebounds, of which six were offensive, and two steals.
The Aggies' win moves the team to 16-1 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. Their win streak improves to 15 games, extending the longest active win streak in the nation.
The Aggies next test comes at New Mexico on the road Tuesday (8:30 p.m. MST, FS1).
