Aggies top 100-point mark in blowout win over San Jose State

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LOGAN — In the last meeting, Utah State had to reach a little deeper to pull out the win over San Jose State.

On Wednesday night, though, it seemed like Utah State barely broke a sweat.

The Aggies dominated the Spartans in a 105-57 win just three days after narrowly losing to New Mexico. It was also the first time the team scored more than 100 points since Nov. 13.

"I think our guys played angry," Aggies head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "I think they played connected, and I think they played really tough."

Tucker Anderson, who scored 11 points, said that after the loss to New Mexico the team talked about "defensive stamina" and not scoreboard-watching in the second half as much.

Not only were the Aggies (23-4, 13-3 MW) able to keep their defensive intensity in the second half against San Jose State, but their halftime lead ballooned before the fans at the Spectrum could blink.

"It felt really good to be able to give that to our fans tonight and be able to close the second half out without kind of a stressor tonight," Anderson said.

Calhoun said the significance of Utah State's 48-point blowout win lies in how its NCAA Tournament resume is viewed.

"When you blow out teams like this, it really helps your numbers," Calhoun said. "It's your NET, helps KenPom."

The Aggies are ranked No. 42 in KenPom as of late Wednesday night, with the team's NET at 38 going into the game.

Ian Martinez led Utah State with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Mason Falslev had 13 points and eight assists, and Dexter Akanno also added 13 points. In total, 12 different Utah State players scored Wednesday night.

The Aggies shot 58% from the field and 52% from the 3-point line, while holding the Spartans to just 37% shooting and 28% from the perimeter.

"I thought tonight we played as good as we could in transition," Calhoun said. "But you can't play in transition if you don't play defense. We have to keep doing that."

The win over the Spartan's marked one of the few times lately where the Aggies didn't give up a big lead. Calhoun said his team's struggled with that the last four or five games.

The Aggies host San Diego State on Saturday at 6 p.m. MST.