Utah State’s win streak ends at Nevada, 80-77

Utah State’s second eight-game winning streak came to an end Saturday night in Reno with an 80-77 loss to Nevada. The Aggies connected on 15 3-pointers in the contest, its second-most of the season, …

RENO, Nev. (ABC4 Sports) – Utah State’s second eight-game winning streak came to an end Saturday night in Reno with an 80-77 loss to Nevada.

The Aggies connected on 15 3-pointers in the contest, its second-most of the season, but fell flat in the final moments as it scored just six points in the final five minutes while the Wolf Pack closed the night on a 15-6 run.

Leading the Aggies in this one was Drake Allen, who connected on a career-high five 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 17 points, to go along with two boards, four assists and five steals without any turnovers.

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Neither side led by more than two possessions in a back-and-forth first half, as the sides were nearly even after 20 minutes of action, Utah State leading 40-38 at the break. It was a 3-point barrage for both teams early as both shot over 50 percent from range in the first half, the Aggies making 9-of-17, the Wolf Pack making 7-of-12.

While Utah State’s shooting numbers dropped following the break, Nevada’s climbed. USU led for the first 17 minutes of the second half, though the Wolf Pack kept it at arms length, never allowing the advantage to climb to more than eight points.

An 11-3 Nevada run turned USU’s largest lead of the night into a tie game in a four-minute stretch leading up to the three-minute mark. Utah State created many opportunities late, but connected on just three of its final 15 shots from the field while Nevada went 6-of-8 during that same span. Despite that, the Aggies remained alive.

With 17 seconds remaining, a baseline inbound found Mason Falslev in the corner, who connected to make it a 78-77 game. Following two free throws for the Wolf Pack, the Aggies had a chance to even things up but two 3-pointers in the final six seconds missed the mark to seal the result.

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Along with Allen’s strong performance, Kolby King finished the night with 16 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal. Falslev went for 10 points, four rebounds, a team-high six assists and two steals.

The Aggies struggled to keep up on the glass, being outrebounded 40-30, but limited the Wolf Pack to just nine second-chance points. King’s six boards led Utah State’s rebounding efforts.

In total, Utah State shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the floor, 44.1 percent (15-of-34) from 3-point range and 63.2 percent (12-of-19) at the charity stripe. Nevada shot 51.0 percent (25-of-49) from the field, 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from behind the arc and 74.1 percent (20-of-27) at the free throw line.

Utah State will now remain on the road as it travels to San Diego, California, to face San Diego State on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 9:00 p.m. MT.

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Source: Utah News