Courtesy of Utah State Athletics
SAN JOSE, Calif. — No. 22 Utah State claimed a share of the Mountain West regular season championship by defeating San José State 90-70 on Wednesday night at the Provident Credit Union Event Center. The Aggies drained a season-high 16 3-pointers, which are the fifth-most in a single game in school history.
Utah State improved to 25-5 on the season and 13-4 in Mountain West play and can win the outright conference title with a victory at home Saturday night against New Mexico. USU has now won at least 25 games four times in the last six seasons and 11 times in school history.
Graduate guard Darius Brown II hit his first six 3-point attempts on his way to leading the Aggies with 21 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Brown, who had just one turnover in the game, made a career-high seven 3-pointers on nine attempts. Redshirt freshman guard Mason Falslev scored 20 points, junior wing Great Osobor had 16 points and eight rebounds, and sophomore guard Javon Jackson scored a career-high 15 points as he made a career-high five 3-pointers.
Utah State shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field, including a season-high 59.3 percent (16-of-27) behind the arc, and 57.1 percent (12-of-21) at the free throw line. San José State (9-22, 2-16 MW) shot 49.1 percent (28-of-57), including 35.0 percent (7-of-20) from behind the arc, and 77.7 percent (7-of-8) at the free throw line.
Utah State also outrebounded the Spartans by four (33-29) and had its third-most assists in a game this season with 23. USU also committed a season-low four turnovers.
Following a Spartan layup, Osobor opened USU’s scoring with a one-handed jam. Utah State took its first lead of the contest at 7-5 following a 5-0 surge behind a layup from redshirt sophomore center Isaac Johnson and a three from Brown. After San José State tied things up at 9-9, the Aggies retook control with a 6-0 run with layups from senior guard Ian Martinez and Osbor to lead 15-9. SJSU cut the USU advantage to one point at 18-17, but Johnson ended the Spartan’s 8-3 run with a one-handed reverse slam to stop the bleeding.
Both sides traded baskets until Utah State caught fire from the perimeter, hitting six 3-pointers over the final seven minutes of the first half to take a 53-37 lead at the break on a 16-4 run over the final four minutes of the first.
Out of the locker room, the Aggies extended its advantage to 21 points following triples from Johnson and Brown. Brown continued to knock down trey after trey as he gave Utah State a 21-point lead at 66-45 five minutes into the second half. San José State used a 12-5 run to trim the USU lead to 13 points at 79-66 with five minutes remaining. Falslev ended the run with a 3-pointer and USU pushed its advantage back to 21 points at 89-68 after a 10-2 run behind free throws from Martinez and triples from Jackson and Brown. Junior forward Kalifa Sakho scored the final point on a free throw as Utah State cruised to a 90-70 victory.
The Spartans were led by sophomore guard MJ Amey Jr., who totaled 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while junior guard Alvaro Cardenas logged a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists.
The Aggies will finish their regular season by hosting New Mexico on Saturday, March 9, at 6:30 p.m. The game will be nationally broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
