The Hive Sports

by Daniel Olsen

After a high #16 ranking following the last second comeback over UNLV, the Aggies finally met their match last week in a tough loss to New Mexico in The Pit. However, the Aggies got the split with an 83-62 win over the Bulldogs last week.

Turning Point

This was over pretty early. The Bulldogs led for less than a minute, tied for the last time with 11 minutes to go in the first half, and never really seemed like they were going to contend. They at least showed up and will hope to right the ship at home when they host the Air Force Falcons on Saturday.

Aggie Analytics

The Aggies won not only by their usual board crashing. The shot selection by Ian Martinez continues to carry the Aggies in pivotal moments.

Martinez got the game started with an impressive 4-point play by Martinez that quickly gave the Aggies a lead by as many points. He then made a jumper near the end of a first half that saw USU take a commanding 40-27 lead.

Josh Uduje turned defense into offense with rebound that was kicked out to floor general Darius Brown, who found Martinez for an easy lay-up.

The nail in the coffin was a three Martinez that answered a three by Fresno in the previous possession. That three put the Aggies up by double-digits for good with 10 minutes left in the game.

Ice Cream Man

While Martinez got the Aggies over 80 points in the win over Wyoming and won everyone free Culver’s ice cream, it was young Karson Templin who came in the final two minutes of the game to make it happen again. His jumper with just under a minute to go got the Aggies to 81 points and after Fresno answered with a quick layup, Templin scored again.

The Aggies will look to go the extra mile when they travel north to play the Boise State Broncos on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on the Mountain West app at 2 p.m. local time.

Photos courtesy Joe Oliver