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LOGAN — Utah State had a week between games; and for each of those seven days, the conversation on the outside was how close the team was to making history.
But within the walls of Utah State, the players and coaches on the men's basketball team didn't utter a word about the potential milestone.
"We never talked about making history," Aggies coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "It was never talked about all week."
The Aggies are a team that do their talking on the court. And on Saturday, their voices spoke as loud as the student section on a sellout day at the Spectrum.
Utah State went on to beat South Florida 88-67 to improve to 10-0 on the season. No other Aggies team has ever started the season winning its first 10 games.
"You think about all the teams in this program," Calhoun said. "The number of coaches, the number of All-Americans, the all-league guys, NCAA Tournament teams, not one has ever started 10-0. It's a (testament) to 'we over me.' ... I think that's what makes us different."
Mason Falslev led the way with 27 points, nine assists and nine rebounds. Falslev said it's "pretty crazy" that he's on the only Utah State basketball team to start 10-0.
Falslev said his teammate, Jaxon Smith, told him he was just two assists and two rebounds away from a triple-double during the final media timeout. Calhoun said he left Falslev in the game longer on purpose to see if the sophomore guard could get the coveted stat line.
"I'm a players' coach," Calhoun said. "I believe in rewarding hard work in the players."
"I grew up watching the Aggies," Falslev said. "That's something I can hold onto forever — look back and say I was part of the best start in Utah State history."
Ian Martinez scored 15 points and added five assists, but shot just 1-of-6 from the 3-point line. Karson Templin had 12 points, while Aubin Gateretse added 11 points and six rebounds.
Utah State dominated in the paint, outscoring South Florida 52-28, and the Aggies also assisted better than the Bulls by a margin of 27-14.
The Aggies started slow and got down 7-2, but an 8-0 run gave the Aggies some momentum. Falslev made three straight 3-pointers in the first half, which helped the Aggies build a 10-point lead.
Utah State then closed the first half with a scoring drought that lasted nearly three and a half minutes, and South Florida capitalized on it with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 6 after trailing by as much as 14.
The Aggies went on a stretch in the second half where they made seven consecutive shots to build an 18-point lead, and shot nearly 61% overall in the second half.
Utah State hosts UC San Diego on Tuesday. Calhoun said the Trojans are the "best team" the team will play early in the season.
"As good as 10-0 feels, we have to have great resolve and great attention to detail the next 48 hours," Calhoun said.
