Utah State survives at Wyoming to stay in two-way tie atop Mountain West standings

The Utah State men’s basketball team picked up its fifth straight Mountain West victory on Saturday at Wyoming, but the Cowboys didn’t go quietly at Arena-Auditorium.

Trailing 78-67 with 3:02 remaining, Wyoming stormed back and had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. Nasir Meyer was off the mark on a late driving layup, and Elijah Perryman corralled the rebound to secure an 85-83 road victory for the Aggies.

“I haven’t watched the tape so I don’t want to be quick to judge, but (we were) just very discombobulated,” Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun said of the final minutes. “As the momentum shifted, our attention to detail and our understanding of time, score, different things, were not very good.”

Junior guard Mason Falslev had a monster game for Utah State (20-3, 11-2) with 27 points, six rebounds and five assists.

“Heavenly Father had my back today,” Falslev said. “I was saying a lot of prayers before the game. I haven’t played very well in this arena.”

Four Wyoming (13-11, 4-9) players scored in double figures, led by Damarion Dennis’ 20 points.

The Aggies are tied atop the MWC standings with San Diego State (17-6, 11-2), which secured a dominant 88-54 road win over Air Force (3-20, 0-12) earlier in the day.

“I’ve tried to tell them we need a greater sense of urgency in February,” Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher said. “I’m trying to just pick their urgency up in everything we do. If we can stay urgent and play more consecutive possessions, we’ll have a better chance to win.”

Nevada (17-7, 9-4) stayed two games back of the MWC co-leaders with a 69-59 home victory over Fresno State (11-12, 5-7). The Bulldogs controlled the game for the first 30 minutes before Nevada seized command near the end.

The Wolf Pack is idle until a massive road matchup with San Diego State next Saturday.

After falling at home to Utah State earlier in the week, New Mexico (18-6, 9-4) suffered a 91-90 loss to visiting Boise State (15-9, 7-6) on Saturday. The Lobos had won 24 straight games at The Pit.

Grand Canyon (15-8, 8-4), another MWC contender, came up short in a second-half comeback attempt at UNLV (11-12, 6-6). The Lopes trailed by 16 points in the first half and were down 74-59 with 2:49 remaining before rallying back to fall 80-78.

Colorado State (13-10, 4-8) snapped a three-game skid with a 65-57 home win over San Jose State (6-17, 1-11).