Utah State smashes Boise State to complete Mountain West sweep

Aggies extend lead in MWC standings; Broncos fall to 7-8 in conference play

Boise State's Drew Fielder. | Boise State Athletics

The Utah State men’s basketball team completed a regular-season Mountain West sweep of Boise State on Wednesday at Smith Spectrum. 

Leading by seven points at halftime, the Aggies caught fire in the second half en route to a 75-56 rout of the Broncos. 

Mason Falslev led the way with 17 points for the Aggies (23-3, 13-2), who have won eight straight games. 

Drew Fielder paced Boise State (15-11, 7-8) with 14 points and eight rebounds. 

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s lopsided loss. 

Broncos squander solid start 

Utah State led wire-to-wire in the January matchup at ExtraMile Arena, scoring the game’s first 10 points on its way to a 46-23 halftime lead and a runaway 93-68 win. 

The Broncos got off to a much better start on Wednesday and grabbed a 21-14 advantage at the 8:35 mark on a Dominic Parolin transition basket. Utah State answered with a 9-0 run, regaining the lead on a Kolby King three-pointer. 

The Aggies closed the half on a methodical 16-2 run to take a 30-23 lead into the locker room. Adlan Elamin then hit a three to open the second half and buried another to make it a 47-32 game.

Utah State didn’t let up to stay alone atop the MWC standings. 

Utah State cranks up defensive pressure 

The high-powered Broncos were held to a season-low 56 at Smith Spectrum. 

Boise State shot 31 of 57 (37 percent) from the floor and 7 of 22 (32 percent) from beyond the arc against Utah State’s aggressive zone defense. The Broncos got the foul line just nine times and made seven. 

In the first half, the Broncos turned the ball over eight times with three shot clock violations. Boise State finished with 12 turnovers and four shot clock violations. 

It was a miserable night for the Broncos in front of a raucous Utah State home crowd. 

Playing for MWC Tournament seeding

After Wednesday’s action, Boise State sits alone in seventh place in the MWC standings, six games behind Utah State with six regular-season games remaining.

More importantly, the Broncos are effectively four games back of Grand Canyon (17-9, 10-5) for fourth place. The Lopes own the tiebreaker with a decisive home-and-home sweep. 

The top four teams receive a first-round bye for the MWC Tournament. 

With a bye off the table barring a Grand Canyon collapse, Boise State can still play for seeding at the MWC Tournament. Earning the No. 5 or No. 6 seed would earn a more favorable first-round matchup against Air Force (3-23, 0-15) or San Jose State (7-19, 2-13). 

The Broncos’ only path to the NCAA Tournament is winning four games in four days at the MWC Tournament. Locking up the No. 5 or No. 6 seed would make that task more doable. 

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