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- Ian Martinez scored 30 points, leading Utah State to an 89-81 win over Fresno State.
- The Aggies struggled with second-half defense and 3-point shooting, despite a strong start.
- Coach Calhoun emphasized the need for urgency and improved performance before postseason play.
FRESNO, Calif. — Utah State may have beaten Fresno State on Friday night, but the way the game turned out felt all too familiar, and perhaps not in a good way.
The Aggies beat the Bulldogs 89-81 in a result that, at least on paper, could've been predicted by even the most casual college basketball watcher. The Aggies (21-3, 11-2 MW) led by 19 at halftime, and had their largest lead of 24 with 14:09 left in the game.
But the Bulldogs went on a few runs and made life harder than it should've been for the Aggies by taking advantage of less aggressive second-half defense and making 10 more free throws. When zoomed out, it's not the way the Aggies wanted to play if they're going to make noise in the postseason.
Utah State has seven games left in the regular season before the Mountain West Tournament comes around in March.
"We stopped guarding in the second half," Aggies head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "We have a lot of young guys that play. We have guys that have not played in an NCAA Tournament, so I'm not sure they understand the sense of urgency here down the stretch as far as you're being measured by every single point that's scored. ... A little bit disappointed. Not surprised, we've kind of done it all year. I'm hoping this will be another wake up call for us."
Ian Martinez led the Aggies with 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting while adding eight rebounds; and Mason Falslev had 16 points, six assists and six rebounds. Drake Allen added 10 points and seven assists.
Martinez and Falslev had struggled to find consistency over the last several weeks, so the two of them leading the way was a welcome sign for the Aggies.
"I think they've been very frustrated," Calhoun said. "It's good to get those guys back on board."
An early 13-0 run and later an 8-0 run gave Utah State a 39-21 lead in the first half. But the Bulldogs reduced the deficit to 12 before the Aggies ended the half with a 50-31 advantage.
Fresno State eventually cut a 24-point deficit to just 11 with less than eight minutes left to play. Later, the Aggies couldn't make a basket for nearly three minutes during a late stretch, and the Bulldogs got to within 9 points with 30.4 seconds left. But it was too little, too late for the Bulldogs.
The Aggies led in almost every statistical category against the Bulldogs; but one area where they struggled was 3-point shooting, where the team went 5-of-16.
Poor perimeter shooting has been a struggle for Utah State in the last three games. It went 3-of-19 against Wyoming and made just one of its 13 attempts in the second half of the loss to New Mexico last week.
"We're just going through a little shooting slump," Martinez said. "That's it. ... We just have to keep shooting."
Calhoun said the team "fell in love" with the 3-pointer since they made 16 in back-to-back games earlier in the season. He said his team is built to take more 3-pointers because they don't have a man in the middle who can score consistently at a high rate.
But at the end of the day, Calhoun said shots have to fall, while noting his team needs to create more turnovers and make layups off them.
"I have full confidence that we'll continue to shoot it," Calhoun said. "But if we don't make shots, we have to rebound it. ... We have to be creative with the way we play."
Utah State hosts Colorado State on Tuesday at 9 p.m. MST.
