LAS VEGAS – Utah State entered its second-round matchup against UNLV with a 0-2 season record fresh on the mind and looking for revenge.
The first matchup in January had the Aggies blow a double-digit second-half lead for their only home loss of the year, and the second matchup, just over a week ago, was a blowout where they gave up a season-high 92 points.
In each matchup, UNLV dominated the paint behind forwards Tyrin Jones and Kimani Hamilton. Jones and Hamilton gave the Aggies fits, both scoring inside and dominating the glass. The Runnin' Rebels out-rebounded Utah State a combined 73-51 in the two regular-season matchups.
In the Mountain West Tournament second round, Utah State exorcised its previous Rebel demons to defeat UNLV 80-60 on Thursday afternoon. The Aggies flipped the script in numerous ways, the most prominent being their play in the paint.
"Game plan was to not settle, go at them and get into the paint, and just make the right plays," junior guard Mason Falslev said. "It wasn't anything crazy, just tried to make the right plays when we could."
The Aggies, led by Falslev and his 24 points and nine rebounds, dominated the Runnin' Rebels down low, outscoring them 40-26 in the paint. UNLV held a slight 36-33 edge in the rebounding battle, though Utah State shooting over 50% from the floor compared to UNLV's 41% provides additional opportunities for the Rebels.
"We imposed our will, we shot a great percentage," head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "Probably the biggest stat is points in the paint."
Utah State has frequently struggled against bigger, physical teams, most notably against UNLV previously, which holds a significant size advantage.
"Basketball is a game of matchups. It's really, really different than college football, these different sports. Some teams just give you different problems," Calhoun said. "I'm really, really proud of our players and our staff. We were very possessed the last two to three days to get this win."
Defensively, Utah State cleaned up the pain by limiting Jones and Hamilton. Jones, who scored a season-high 20 points in the first matchup and 17 in the second, was limited to just nine points. Hamilton had 10 points in the first meeting and a season-high 24 points in the second game, but was limited to only 11 on Thursday.
"You saw we trapped in the post more than we ever had, and I thought we did a great job of scrambling out of those traps," Calhoun said. "That's a test to their buy-in. This time of year, you've got to have great buy-in."
Many of these traps and doubles in the post led to additional deflections and steals, in addition to limiting UNLV's ability to operate in the paint. Utah State forced 19 turnovers that led to 23 points, a stark contrast to earlier matchups where the Aggies forced only 21 total turnovers.
"It's a testament to our defense. That's something we've worked on," graduate guard Drake Allen said. "We've got to get back, build walls, and I think we did a pretty good job at that tonight."
Defense has been a struggle for Utah State recently, as the Aggies dropped three of their final five games. Part of that defensive battle was struggling to turn teams over and get fast-break points.
"Anytime you can turn a team over 19 times, your defense is clicking on all cylinders," Calhoun said. "I thought our ability to play with our chest today was really, really critical."
Utah State will take on Nevada in the tournament semifinal on Friday night, another team with size and a scoring threat guard that gave the Aggies fits this season. The Aggies went 1-1 against the Wolfpack in the regular season, knocking them off in early January in Logan before falling in Reno late in the year.
Nevada's Corey Camper Jr. lifted his team to victory over Grand Canyon on Thursday with 27 points on an efficient 8-13 shooting. Utah State had success against the leading scorer in the Mountain West in UNLV's Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, and Camper Jr. will pose a similar defensive test on Friday.
