No. 22 Utah State shuts down Boise State 80-61 to break 1st-place tie in Mountain West

By CARSON HILTON
Associated Press

LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Mason Falslev scored a season-high 25 points and No. 22 Utah State blew out Boise State 80-61 on Saturday night to grab sole possession of first place in the rugged Mountain West Conference.

Darius Brown II added 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Aggies (20-4, 8-3). Isaac Johnson scored 14, and Great Osobor had 10 points and 10 boards.

The teams began the night tied atop the crowded league standings with No. 25 New Mexico, which lost 80-77 to UNLV at home.

Boise State (16-8, 7-4) was led by Tyson Degenhart with 17 points and eight rebounds. Max Rice scored 12, but the cold-shooting Broncos matched their season low for points.

Falsev went 10 for 13 from the field and Utah State held Boise State to 35.6% shooting, including 29% while building a 41-30 halftime lead. Falsev had 15 points in the first half on 6-for-8 shooting.

Utah State held the Broncos scoreless for five minutes, going on a 13-0 run to open a 23-13 advantage midway through the period.

Boise State started the second half 6 for 12 from the floor, but nine early points by Brown and two 3-pointers from Johnson kept the Aggies’ lead in double digits.

Utah State shot 60% in the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Boise State: After starting 7-2 in conference play, the Broncos have consecutive double-digit losses to Colorado State and Utah State.

Utah State: With first place on the line, the Aggies rebounded nicely from successive 14-point losses to San Diego State and Nevada.

UP NEXT

Boise State hosts Fresno State on Saturday.

Utah State visits Wyoming on Wednesday.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball