The Utah State Aggies are living in an unblemished, perfect, all-for-one, one-for-all college basketball world right now.
"We all get along on and off the court," sophomore guard Mason Falslev told utahstateaggies.com after an 88-67 win over South Florida last Saturday. "There are a lot of teams in basketball that don't want to see other people (teammates) succeed. We want to see other people succeed."
Everyone is succeeding for the Aggies right now. Utah State is 10-0 for the first time in school history and is the No. 1 team in this week's Nevada Appeal Mountain West rankings. Falslev's 27 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals led the Aggies against South Florida.
"To get 88 points, 27 assists and (force) 22 turnovers, we took to heart our message before the game," first-year coach Jerrod Calhoun said.
The Aggies also got 15 points from Ian Martinez, the second-leading scorer in the Mountain West at 18.1 points a game — just ahead of Falslev, who is fourth at 17.4. The Aggies lead the conference in defense (64.5 points a game) and are second in offense (87.6 points a game) while outscoring their opponents by an average of 23.1 points a game.
No. 2 Boise State (7-3) outlasted Saint Mary's, 67-65, in overtime on Saturday at Idaho Falls, Idaho. Tyson Degenart led the Broncos with 19 points while Alvaro Cardenas had 14 and O'Mar Stanley added 13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
"They (Saint Mary's) were 9-1," Boise State coach Leon Rice told Bronco Nation News. "They are a good basketball team."
The Broncos were coming off a 74-69 loss to Washington State a week earlier at home.
"We made a lot of progress last week (in practice)," Rice said, "and we got rewarded for it."
No. 3 Nevada (8-3) set a school record for 3-pointers in a game (18) during a 105-73 win at home over Texas Southern on Saturday. Xavier DuSell had seven of the threes and is now tied with UNLV's Julian Rishwain with a conference-best .444 percentage on threes this season.
"We saw growth," Nevada coach Steve Alford told Nevada Sports Net. "We did a lot of things we wanted to do that we've been working on."
Nevada, which will open Mountain West play against Colorado State at Lawlor Events Center this Saturday, now leads the conference in shooting overall (.504) and on threes (.419). The Wolf Pack is also third in defense, allowing just 66.3 points a game.
No. 4 San Diego State (7-2) got past California Baptist, 81-75, last Wednesday at home behind 19 points (four threes) by Miles Byrd and 16 from Nick Boyd. Cal Baptist had a 31-23 edge in rebounds thanks to 17 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points.
"Our offense was great," San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher told goaztecs.com. "It was elite. Our defense was pretty good. It was rebounding that betrayed us. We've known this was an issue."
"We need to keep our foot on the pedal at the end of games," Byrd said. "With about eight minutes left (the Aztecs led 68-49 with 9:22 to go) we got too relaxed."
No. 5 New Mexico (8-3) erupted offensively in a 122-70 win at home last Saturday over Western New Mexico. The Lobos’ bench scored 74 points, led by Jovan Milicevic (21). The 122 points are the most by a Mountain West team since UNLV scored 126 against Life Pacific (126-54) on Nov. 26, 2022.
New Mexico was coming off a frustrating 89-83 loss in overtime to rival New Mexico State at home a week earlier.
"The last time in this building (The Pit in Albuquerque) was a devastating loss," Lobos coach Richard Pitino told golobos.com. "We just got back to work. But I don't want to move on from New Mexico State. I want (the Lobo players) to remember it and for it to motivate us."
No. 6 UNLV (5-4) beat Pacific, 72-65, on Saturday at the Lee's Family Forum in Henderson. Julian Rishwain, a senior transfer from the Florida Gators, had 21 points, with three threes and two free throws coming in the final six-plus minutes.
Pacific, though, led 44-40 with 12:31 to go before the Rebels stepped up. Two jumpers by Dedan Thomas (16 points) tied the game at 44-44. Thomas, a sophomore from Liberty High in Las Vegas, also had a jumper and layup for leads of 51-45 (8:37 left) and 53-47 (8:05) before Rishwain took over.
"When they took the lead, (Thomas) changed gears and ended up being the difference," UNLV coach Kevin Kruger told unlvrebels.com. "He made some big-time shots and big-time plays and Julian extended it."
No. 7 Colorado State lost to Virginia Commonwealth, 76-68, last Saturday at Henderson in a Rams versus Rams matchup. Colorado State, which got 14 points from Keshawn Williams and 12 each from Nique Clifford (10 rebounds) and Jalen Lake, led 61-60 with seven minutes to go before VCU went on a 7-0 run.
"We were a little lethargic to start the game," Virginia Commonwealth coach Ryan Odom told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "We were a little disjointed. But our guys were poised and we were able to regroup."
Odom, who coached Utah State for two seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23), will play another Mountain West team on Wednesday at New Mexico. Virginia Commonwealth also lost to Nevada, 64-61, in the Charleston (S.C.) Classic on Nov. 22.
No. 8 San Jose State knocked off Cal Poly in a wild overtime game, 107-100, last Saturday in San Jose. Sadaidriene Hall led San Jose State with 33 points on 14-of-21 shooting. Hall, who played one year at East Tennessee State and three at Stephen F. Austin, had never scored more than 28 points in his 95-game career. He is averaging just 8.6 points a game this year even after scoring 33 against Cal Poly. Hall had a 3-point play for a 102-97 lead with 1:42 left in overtime. Josh Uduje, a transfer from Utah State, had 23 points, including three pivotal baskets in overtime. Will McClendon, a UCLA transfer, had 17 points.
"I'm so fired up for the guys," San Jose State coach Tim Miles said on sjsuspartans.com.
No. 9 Wyoming lost to BYU, 68-49, on Saturday at Salt Lake City's Delta Center. Obi Agbim, who leads the Mountain West in scoring at 18.3 points a game, had 21 for Wyoming.
"I thought the pace favored us," Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks told gowyocom. "But for the first time this season I saw our guys tired. We've had a long stretch on the road."
The BYU game was Wyoming's fifth in a row over 18 days away from home, a stretch which started at a two-day tournament in Mexico.
"This was designed to test our guys for conference play," Wicks said.
No. 10 Fresno State (4-7) beat UC San Diego, 73-65, on Saturday at home to end a five-game losing streak. Former Nevada guard Jalen Weaver (2021-22) led Fresno State with 19 points, equaling his scoring high in his two seasons with the Bulldogs. Weaver, who spent one season at Salt Lake Community College after leaving Nevada, is averaging 10.2 points a game this year.
No. 11 Air Force (3-8) lost to Northern Colorado, 81-76, in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, despite 23 points from freshman Kyle Marshall.
The Nevada Appeal Mountain West men's basketball rankings for the week of Dec. 16:
1. UTAH STATE (10-0, 1-0). Last week: Utah State 88, South Florida 67 (Dec. 14). This week: UC San Diego at Utah State (Dec. 17); Utah State at Saint Mary's (Dec. 22).
2. BOISE STATE (7-3, 0-0). Last week: Boise State 67, Saint Mary's 65, OT (Dec. 14). This week: Texas Southern at Boise State (Dec. 17); Air Force at Boise State (Dec. 21).
3. NEVADA (8-3, 0-0). Last week: Nevada 105, Texas Southern 73 (Dec. 14). This week: Colorado State at Nevada (Dec.21).
4. SAN DIEGO STATE (7-2, 1-0). Last week: San Diego State 81, California Baptist 75 (Dec. 11). This week: California at San Diego State (Dec. 21).
5. NEW MEXICO (8-3, 1-0). Last week: New Mexico 122, Western New Mexico 70 (Dec. 14). This week: VCU at New Mexico (Dec. 18).
6. UNLV (5-4, 0-0). Last week: UNLV 72, Pacific 65 (Dec. 14). This week: UNLV at Dayton (Dec. 17). UC Riverside at UNLV (Dec. 21).
7. COLORADO STATE (5-5, 0-0). Last week: VCU 76, Colorado State 68 (Dec. 14). This week: Radford at Colorado State (Dec. 17); Colorado State at Nevada (Dec. 21).
8. SAN JOSE STATE (6-6, 0-1). Last week: San Jose State 107, Cal Poly 100, OT (Dec. 14). This week: Kennesaw State at San Jose State (Dec. 21).
9. WYOMING (5-5, 0-1). Last week: BYU 68, Wyoming 49 (Dec. 14). This week: Bellarmine at Wyoming (Dec. 19); Wyoming at Fullerton (Dec. 22).
10. FRESNO STATE (4-7, 0-1). Last week: Fresno State 73, UC San Diego 65 (Dec. 14). This week: California Baptist at Fresno State (Dec. 21).
11. AIR FORCE (3-8, 0-0). Last week: Northern Colorado 81, Air Force 76 (Dec. 16). This week: Air Force at Boise State (Dec. 21).