Utah State will host San Jose State in a Saturday afternoon Mountain West basketball matinee for what will be the only meeting of these two teams in the regular season. The Aggies (11-1, 2-0 MW) enter as massive favorites to claim victory and advance to a 3-0 record in Mountain West play. The Spartans (5-8, 0-2 MW) are looking for an upset win and what would be their first W against Utah State since February of 2023.

Here’s all of the necessary info ahead of this game for the Aggies.

How to watchTip-off: Jan. 3, 2026 at 2 p.m. (Mountain Time)Location: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (Logan, UT)TV Broadcast: MW Network | KMYU
Radio Broadcast: KVNU (102.1 FM, 610 AM) / kvnutalk.com / KVNU mobile app

KVNU Aggie GameDay pregame show with Stockton Jewkes and J.D. Walker: 1 p.m.

KVNU Aggie Call: Immediately after Coach Jerrod Calhoun’s post-game comments

Text (435) 554-1175 or call (435) 753-5868 during the pregame or postgame show to give your thoughts and reactions for the game.Projected Starters

Utah State (11-1, 2-0 MW)

G – Drake Allen (6-5, Sr.) – 6.2 points | 3.3 rebounds | 5.5 assistsG – Mason Falslev (6-4, Jr.) – 15.6 points | 5.8 rebounds | 2.5 assistsG – MJ Collins (6-4, Sr.) – 19.9 points | 2.3 rebounds | 1.8 assistsF – Adlan Elamin (6-9, Fr.) – 4.5 points | 1.8 rebounds | 0.4 assistsF – Zach Keller (6-10, Sr.) – 2.4 points | 1.3 rebounds | 0.3 assists

San Jose State (5-8, 0-2 MW)

G – Jermaine Washington (6-0, So.) – 10.7 points | 1.6 rebounds | 3.2 assistsG – Colby Garland (6-0, Jr.) – 20.4 points | 3.9 rebounds | 4.2 assistsG – Melvin Bell (6-4, Fr.) – 5.5 points | 3.6 rebounds | 0.4 assists
F – Yaphet Moundi (6-8, Sr.) – 12.5 points | 7.6 rebounds | 1.4 assistsF – Sadraque Nganga (6-10, Sr.) – 5.6 points | 4.4 rebounds | 0.3 assistsAvailability Report

The following is drawn from the official availability reports posted by the Mountain West. Per-game stats, iff applicable, are included in parenthesis.

UTAH STATE

SAN JOSE STATE

Ben Rosenborough (10.6 pts, 1.4 Reb, 1.1 Ast) – OUTJaden Goodall (1.7 Pts, 0.7 Reb) – OUTChristian Wise – OUTDamase Coly – OUTJavaughn Hannah (7.5 Pts, 1.0 Reb) – QUESTIONABLEYaphet Moundi (12.5 Pts, 7.6 Reb) – QUESTIONABLE

The Spartans have dealt with numerous injuries this season with players coming in and out of the lineup. That could continue this game as while SJSU is getting Sadraque Nganga back after he missed the game against San Diego State, his return could be dampened by the fact that Yaphet Moundi is now listed as questionable. Having both would be a pretty big plus, but the Spartans can’t seem to have nice things this year.

Utah State Three Keys to VictoryProtect the Ball

Yes, this was also featured as a key in the preview for the Fresno State game. And that’s because San Jose State also has a knack for being able to create turnovers. The Spartans rank 77th in opponent’s turnover percentage. And while it’s not the 28th rank the Bulldogs hold, it’s good enough for the Aggies to be vigilant and take extra care of the ball. Perhaps even more so considering they’re coming off a game where they gave up 20 turnovers.

Garland won’t beat you, but the rest of the team might

Colby Garland is a very impressive player, scoring at a very high clip with very good efficiency on a heavy diet of very tough shots. But something to keep in mind is that in his six highest scoring games the Spartans are 1-5. And that win was in overtime against a fringe bottom-100 team (Long Beach State) at home. San Jose State has played its best when Garland doesn’t have to take over. If he’s all the offense they’ve got, they’re sunk. So if Garland is well on his way to a 20 or 30-point game, don’t fret too much. Just make sure no one else is joining him.

Win the offensive rebound battle

Both teams in this game are effective offensive rebounders. The Aggies rank around the top 40 in the nation and the Spartans are top 90. On paper, this projects as a game where San Jose State may miss quite a few shots (252nd in effective field goal percentage with Utah State being 78th in eFG% defense) but the easiest way for a team to negate their own poor shooting is to scoop up their own misses. Just look back to USU’s near-miss against Montana State where the Aggies had a notable advantage in shooting percentage, but the 12 offensive rebounds snagged by the Bobcats made that contest a very close one. Utah State needs to finish possessions against the Spartans to produce a satisfactory result.

Computer Prediction ScoresKenPom — Utah State win 85-64Haslametrics — Utah State win 83-62EvanMiya — Utah State win 86-63