FRESNO, Calif. – Utah State men’s basketball closed out the 2025 calendar year with a win Tuesday night at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, defeating Fresno State 72-63 to improve to 11-1 on the season.
A strong defensive effort helped the Aggies secure the victory as they limited the Bulldogs to just 63, their second-lowest scoring outing of the season. The Utah State defense forced 18 turnovers with 14 steals.
After making just one of their first six shots of the night, the Aggies used an early 20-7 run to take the lead and quickly open a double-digit advantage. This was the only lead change of the night, as Utah State would remain on top the rest of the way, leading for nearly 35 total minutes of action.
Turnovers plagued both sides throughout, each team tallying nine in the first half. All nine of Fresno State’s first-half turnovers were caused by Aggie steals, led by three takeaways from junior guard Mason Falslev. The difference in the first half was the USU defense, which limited Fresno State to just 32 percent shooting from the floor and 11 percent shooting from deep to take a 35-26 lead at the break.
While the Aggies’ shooting numbers continued to climb in the second half, so did Fresno State’s as each side scored 37 points in the final 20 minutes. USU never saw its lead extend to more than 13 points, but remained firmly in control to the final buzzer.
For the seventh time this season, it was senior guard MJ Collins Jr. who led the Aggies in the scoring column, going for 18 points along with his three boards, one assist and two steals. Falslev also finished with a strong all-around performance, tallying 16 points, eight boards, two assists, four steals and a block.
The USU bench out-scored that of Fresno State 29-12, paced by a 13-point performance in 21 minutes of action by senior guard Kolby King, who shot an efficient 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-4 from deep.
On the glass, Utah State posted a 41-34 advantage led by a career night for junior forward Karson Templin. In just 22 minutes off the bench, Templin tallied 13 rebounds.
In total, Utah State shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the floor, 25.0 percent (5-of-20) from 3-point range and 68.2 percent (15-of-22) at the charity stripe. Fresno State shot 34.5 percent (20-of-58) from the field, 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from behind the arc and 81.8 percent (18-of-22) at the free throw line.
UP NEXT
Utah State will return home for a single game this weekend as it hosts San José State at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast locally on KMYU, and streamed free on Mountain West Network.
TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2025-26 men’s basketball season have sold out. Fans can purchase single game tickets for available remaining games here. A waitlist for 2026-27 season tickets is now available here.
FOLLOW
For more information on Utah State’s men’s basketball program, follow the Aggies on Facebook at usumensbasketball, on Twitter at @usubasketball and on Instagram at @usubasketball. Fans can also watch USU men’s basketball highlights by visiting youtube.com/utahstateathletics.
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