by Daniel Olsen
After starting the season out with a 19-2 record heading into February, the Aggies found their first real adversity strike with a road loss at San Diego State, and a 77-63 home loss to Nevada. The schedule doesn’t get any easier, but it’s important to ask what went wrong before seeing a path forward.
Turning Point
The Aggies trailed by nine points at halftime. While they seemed to get close, they were never able to tie the game up in the second half. The Wolfpack always responded by either making a basket or getting freebies from the charity stripe. An Ian Martinez layup pulled the score to 50-47, but they would never get that close again.
Aggie Analytics
The shooting woes told the story in this one. 63 points is the lowest total in the Spectrum this year. USU shot 5-21 from three and 39 percent from the field. In the lone matchup against the Wolfpack, USU could not stop Kenan Blackshear and Nick Davidson, who combined for 43 points.
Out of Ice Cream
This is the first home loss the Aggies have suffered this season. The last time they scored under 80 points at home was when they beat a number 13 ranked Colorado State team 77-72. The Aggies have reached the 80 point mark at home eight times this season.
USU will look to get back on a winning track after their first losing streak of the season. They will play Boise State on Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 8 p.m. MST.
All photos courtesy Joe Oliver. He earned 2 bachelor’s degrees from Southern Utah University. He also managed a restaurant, worked in the fraud department for eBay, managed the UofU bookstore, done production for hundreds of live events, and worked 15 years in state government. He made the leap into photojournalism full time in 2020. He loves spending time with his three children, photographing concerts, sports and other live events, and traveling! He has covered college and pro sports since 2019.
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