LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State Aggies struggled to get the energy going, but momentum built quickly in a 96-78 win over San José State.
The Aggies (12-1, 3-0 MW) hosted the Spartans (5-9, 0-3 MW) at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday, January 3.
USU began the day tied with Nevada and San Diego State at 2-0 on Mountain West play. San José State joins Colorado State, Fresno State, and Air Force at the bottom of the league at 0-2.
Ring in the new year with us at the Spectrum!
🏀: vs San Jose State
📍: The Spectrum
🕑: 2 PM
📺: https://t.co/PPekbUBzSq
📊: https://t.co/6QgxFbilKQ
🎟️: https://t.co/oQdple3FPg pic.twitter.com/ihmshPo49f
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 3, 2026
MW leading scorer MJ Collins Jr led all scorers with 23 points, adding four rebounds in 31 minutes.
Mason Falslev added 17 points before fouling out, and Garry Clark came off the bench to score 16 points while grabbing five boards.
Freshman guard Elijah Perryman continues finding a way to contribute off the bench. He finished with a 13-point, 10-assist double-double in 22 massive bench minutes.
First Half
Utah State opened the afternoon by making eight of its first eleven shots, but a hot San José State team held a 23-20 lead halfway through the period.
The Spartans went 5-of-9 from three in the opening minutes.
Hand in the face, no problem.#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/k9VbocVB6c
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 3, 2026
MJ Collins Jr. was whistled for a technical four after some extracurricular taunting as Utah State began showing signs of frustration.
SJSU knocked down back-to-back triples, taking a 35-31 lead with 6:48 left.
KT on cleanup duty 🧹#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/SN1vB3CZL2
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 3, 2026
An uncharacteristically poor defensive performance sent USU into the break trailing 51-48 despite shooting 59 percent from the field.
San José State made 16-of-28 (57 percent) from the field and hit nine threes along with a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. Spartan forward Adrian Myers drained four shots from deep to lead his team.
Mason Falslev led all scorers with 13 points, followed by 11 from Collins Jr.
Second Half
SJSU grabbed its largest lead, 55-48, 90 seconds into the second half after a couple of Aggie turnovers.
A Garry Clark and-one cut the deficit to two with 14:41 left.
Utah State used five straight made baskets to take its first lead since the 3:44 mark in the first half when Clark made a lay-in with 12:27 remaining.
Freshman Elijah Perryman drilled his first three, followed by another putback lay-in from Clark to increase its lead to 73-68.
ELIJAH FROM THE CORNER#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/sVcTec26JP
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 3, 2026
The Spectrum crowd exploded when a turnover led to a two-handed slam from Collins Jr to cap a 9-0 Aggie run.
USU took an 84-77 lead into the final media timeout.
MJ’s got the Spectrum on its feet 🔊#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/TcdykR8RQa
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 3, 2026
A 22-9 run allowed Utah State to turn a tight game into a runaway in seven minutes of game time.
The Aggies improved to 3-0 in conference play with a 96-78 win.
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The Aggies head to Fort Collins, Colorado, for a matchup with the Air Force Falcons on Tuesday, January 6. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. MT.
Find Utah State’s entire 2025-26 men’s basketball schedule here.
Brian Preece is a KSLSports.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
Find KSL Sports coverage of Utah State University Athletics here.
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