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LOGAN — U-G-L-Y. But the Utah State Aggies need no alibi.
The Utah State men's basketball team narrowly beat the Wyoming Cowboys 70-67 on Wednesday to stay undefeated on the season. It was yet another game with uneven play, poor first-half shooting, and not enough contributions from younger players.
But it was also yet another game where the Aggies passed a serious test, no matter what the aesthetic quality of their victory was.
In Utah State's last three wins, each was won by no more than 5 points. The win over St. Bonaventure was by 5, and the North Texas win was by 4.
It's not like the Aggies (8-0, 1-0 Mountain West) are upset with winning close or ugly games — far from it.
"It's just like last year — we don't care how we win," Ian Martinez said. "I don't care if we win pretty. I don't care if we win ugly."
But it seems as though winning that way is more the exception than the rule.
"We're not a grind-out team," Aggies coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "But, maybe we are. We just won three or four straight games in a grind-out type of game. I don't want to play like that. ... It shows you we're not anywhere near where our capabilities are."
Against Wyoming, Utah State shot short only 37.5% in the first half, and even worse from the 3-point line. The three starters, other than Martinez and Mason Falslev, combined for just 2 points.
If it weren't for Utah State making 12 more free throws than Wyoming, and Falslev and Martinez scoring 10 of the team's last 12 points in the final five minutes, the Aggies would've been staring at their first loss of the season.
Martinez led Utah State with 23 points and five rebounds. And though he didn't shoot efficiently from the field overall, he made all eight of his free throw attempts in the win. Falslev had 19 points, six rebounds and three steals.
Falslev made two layups down the stretch to create enough separation to help the Aggies hold off the Cowboys, who lost their second straight game. Jordan Nesbitt missed a 3-pointer from three-quarters court that would've sent the game into overtime.
"He's just a dog," Martinez said of Falslev. "He's going to go out there and he's going to play his ass off. That's it. He's never going to stop playing hard. That's why I call him 'The Machine.' He don't stop. I'm glad I have him on my team."
At the time of publication, the Aggies were just one of nine undefeated teams left in Division I college basketball.
