- Utah State rallied in the second half to defeat Villanova 86-76.
- The Aggies overcame a 10-point deficit with a decisive 9-0 run.
- Mason Falslev led USU with 22 points; Bryce Lindsay scored 25 for Villanova.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — There was no long wait like in the past for the Aggies to enjoy an NCAA Tournament victory.
It was just two years.
The ninth-seeded Utah State men's basketball team rallied in the second half to beat eighth-seeded Villanova Friday afternoon at Viejas Arena in the first round of the Big Dance, 86-76, in front of 11,418 fans.
"It was a struggle to get the ball to go in the basket, but once a few go in you gain more confidence," Aggie guard Mason Falslev said. "And honestly shout out to the point guards, you know, they executed great today. Drake (Allen) and E.P. (Elijah Perryman), they just put the ball in the right spot and allowed us to kind of do our thing."
The Aggies (29-6) beat TCU in 2024, but before that it was 2001 when USU last tasted victory in the NCAA Tournament.
"Really want to tip our cap to Villanova," USU head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "I thought that was just a tremendous basketball game. They're very well-coached."
It was not looking good early in the second half for USU. The Wildcats (24-9) had built a 10-point lead just two minutes into the final half. Calhoun called a timeout.
"It was kind of an up and-down-game," Calhoun said. "We didn't value the possessions. There's certain points in a game where you've gotta win the margins. It's right before halftime, coming out of halftime. We've been unbelievable and after timeout plays and coming out of the timeout, and really coming out of the halftime in general. That was very uncharacteristic for us.
"I thought, as coaches, if we hit the panic button our players would too. They stayed the course, and we kept chopping it down and eventually tied it, eventually kept the lead. I give our guys a lot of credit. We'll go back and look at that tonight. And you've just gotta value possessions, you know, this time of year. Every one is so critical."
It took the Aggies less than four minutes to tie up the game. It was back-and-forth until the final three minutes. USU used a game-deciding 9-0 run to get in front for good.
"No plays, just run and flow and do what we do," Falslev said. "We've learned concepts all year that should let us up for good offense, so just trusting in that down the stretch."
MJ Collins Jr. tied the game with a pair of free throws, and Drake Allen put the Aggies ahead with two foul shots of his own. Collins then made a steal and scored, was fouled and made the free throw. Collins swooped in for a fast break layup off a pass from Falslev to make it 80-73 with 2:12 to play.
A steal and dunk by Collins made it a 10-point lead with 1:13 left in the contest. The Aggie faithful started to breath a sigh of relief, and the USU band and HURD began to celebrate.
"We came the huddle and coach was like they were wearing down," Collins said. "We strive off our depth and they played seven, eight guys, so we knew at some point they were going to wear down.
They shot the cover off the ball early. You can't really maintain that for a whole 40 minutes."
The Wildcats didn't play the foul game when Allen made his third steal of the game, and the Aggies were able to let the final 26 seconds roll off the clock and celebrate.
Four Aggies finished in double-digit scoring. Falslev led the way with 22 points, while Collins was right behind with 20. Adlan Elamin netted 13, and Allen finished with 11 points and a team-best six assists. Elamin and Falslev led the team in rebounding with seven boards each.
Villanova was led by Bryce Lindsay with a game-best 25 points as the guard knocked down six 3-pointers. Lindsay was joined in double-figure scoring by Duke Brennan (15), Tyler Perkins (15) and Malachi Palmer (11). Brennan grabbed a game-best eight rebounds, and Acaden Lewis finished with a game-high eight assists.
"I think even though we scored 76 points, I think defensively they're really connected," Wildcat head coach Kevin Willard said of USU. "They play well together. I don't think Drake Allen doesn't get enough credit for just running that basketball team and how well he runs it. I thought he played great, offensively and defensively. He came up with two big steals in the second half."
Since 1985, only one time has a team won a first-round NCAA Tournament game when making two or fewer 3-pointers, and the losing team has made at least 14 3-pointers. The Aggies made it two.
USU was 2 of 16 (.125) from long range, which was a season low in made treys and percentage. Villanova made 14 of 30 from beyond the arc. The 14 made 3-pointers was the second most the Aggies have given up this year.
"I think it's a testament to Villanova," Allen said. "They're a very good basketball team. And I think they made some threes that were contested and sometimes we made errors and gave them some open ones, right? We knew they were going to shoot a lot of threes, and I think we got lost a couple times. But all you do is keep battling. You can't throw your hands up in the air. You can't say, 'oh, my goodness,' you know, just gotta move on to the next play and keep on fighting."
Which the Aggies did.
The Aggies couldn't have asked for a better start. They hit their first three shots from the field and built a 10-6 lead four-and-a-half minutes into the contest. Falslev had six points.
Three-point shots kept the Wildcats in the game and would become a theme over the first 20 minutes.
USU used a 12-5 surge to build a 22-13 lead at the 12:15 mark of the opening half. Part of the run were dunks by Allen — a one-hand slam on an aggressive drive to the hoop — and Elamin off an alley-oop pass fro Falslev that dazzled the fans. Elamin drove in for two to cap the surge.
"That was really just me feeding off our defense and the energy from the rest of the guys and the guys finding me in the right spot," Elamin said. "I was trying to run the floor as hard as I can and just cut, really."
Villanova continued to stay within striking range with shots from beyond the arc.
When the Aggies hit a dryspell from the field and missed two free throws, Villanova pounced. USU went 3:40 minutes without scoring.
The Wildcats scored nine unanswered points to take their first lead of the game, 33-31. A pair of 3-pointers and a drive in for a basket by Lindsay put Villanova in front.
"I just got going early," Lindsay said. "My teammates found me. I just found an open slot in the defense and I just let it fly."
Elamin ended the scoring drought with his second alley-oop throw down, this time off a pass from Allen. However, the Wildcats hit a pair of 3-pointers to end the half and take a 39-37 lead into the break.
Villanova hit nine 3-pointers in the first half, while USU had one.
"Coach came in at halftime and we was in a good spot down two," Collins said. "We weren't making threes so we knew we had to rely on our defense. And it kind of carried us over in the second half."
The Aggies scored first to start the second half, making one free throw. Then the Wildcats reeled off nine straight points to take a 48-38 lead with 17:53 to play.
Just when it was looking dire for USU, the designated visitors went on a 14-4 run to tie the game up at 54-54 with 14:15 left in the contest. Falslev hit a runner off a pass from Allen, and Collins drilled his first 3-pointer of the game to get the rally going. Collins converted a three-point play, and Garry Clark scored from the paint. Templin made two free throws, and Allen turned a steal into a layup to knot the contest.
After nine lead changes and five ties, the Aggies took charge and kept their dancing shoes on for at least a few more days.
"Our guys in the last seven, eight minutes, I thought we really buckled down," Calhoun said. "Our execution offensively was tremendous, our screening, getting to the next action. And I thought what won the game was our will-to and our want-to. This team has been very connected throughout the year. And in March, you have to be connected."
