The Hive Sports

December 4th, 2024 – On a Wednesday night, in below freezing temperatures, USU’s Dee-Glen Smith Spectrum was on fire! It wasn’t just the packed house of 8,420 that was hot; the game play was heated all night! 

It was the Mountain West conference opener in Logan! The Aggies, who began the evening 7-0, had not faced a worthy opponent thus far. Wyoming on the other hand, was 5-2 coming into the game and were eager to prove themselves against the returning MWC champions! It was truly a hard fought battle to the very end!Both teams have first-year head coaches. Jerrod Calhoun for Utah State and Sundance Wicks for Wyoming. The two men coached against each other twice last season, when Calhoun was at Youngstown State and Wicks was at Wisconsin-Green Bay. 

Utah State shot a meager 41% from the field, including making only 5 of 17 from 3-point range. Wyoming shot 50% from the field, including knocking down 12 three-pointers. The game could have gone either way. The Aggies were down for almost the entire first half. 

Then, late in the 2nd half, after Wyoming had been trailing, they went up by 1 point with under 3 minutes left. Battling back-and-forth, the game went to the wire where Wyoming’s Jordan Nesbitt missed a 3-pointer from behind mid-court that would’ve sent the game into overtime. 

Utah State’s free throws were the key to them holding of the upset. USU’s Ian Martinez was a perfect 8 for 8 from the line. Karson Templin also made 7 of 8 shots from the line.

Wyoming’s Kobe Newton and Obi Agbim led the Cowboys with 17 points each. Agbim also had 10 assists for a double-double. While Jordan Nesbitt had 13 points and 9 rebounds for the Cowboys. 

Ian Martinez had 23 points and 5 assists, while Mason Falslev finished with 19 points, 6 boards, and 3 steals. Most of their points came in the second half for the Aggies. Karson Templin added 11 points and 6 rebounds with Dexter Akanno putting up 9 points. 

Records of note: Ian Martinez surpassed 1,000 points. Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun won his 250th game.

Utah State is now 8-0 overall, (1-0 in the Mountain West), and only 1 of 9 remaining undefeated teams in all of Division 1. Wyoming dropped to 5-3, (0-1 in the MWC). 

Utah State’s next matchup is this Saturday at home against the team from the opposite side of the state, Utah Tech.