CHARLESTON, S.C. – A Shriners Children's Charleston Classic tournament-record 40-point performance by Utah State senior guard MJ Collins Jr. helped lead the Aggies to the LowCounty bracket title Sunday evening at TD Arena, as USU defeated Davidson 94-60.
Collins Jr., a native of South Carolina, earned tournament Most Valuable Player accolades in his return to his home state while making event history. His 40-point performance broke a tournament scoring record of 14 years, previously set by St. Joseph's Carl Jones in 2011, who scored 38 points. This was also the first 40-point outing by a Utah State player in 18 years, since Jaycee Carroll went for 44 points in 2007.
With a dominant showing from start to finish, Collins Jr., scored 22 points in the first half, then 18 more in the second while playing just 28 minutes. He did so with extreme efficiency, going 14-of-19 from the field, 8-of-12 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 at the free throw line. His eight threes are tied for the third-most by an Aggie player in program history.
In what was a battle between two 5-0 teams entering the night, it took just six minutes for the Aggies to open up a 10-point lead. Early foul trouble by USU aided the Wildcats' efforts early on, as Utah State was whistled for eight fouls in the first nine minutes of action.
Despite the whistle deficiency, the Aggies remained in control throughout, countering a 7-0 Davidson run which cut the lead down to a single point with an 11-0 run of their own.
A pair of triples from an identical spot in the corner on back-to-back possessions by Collins Jr. later helped spark another Aggie run, this time a 12-0 run which took less than two minutes of game time to close out the first half. At the break, USU held a 48-30 advantage.
In the second half, the Utah State lead only grew, ballooning to as many as 37 points when Collins Jr. went on a personal 13-2 run in the final minutes.
Throughout the night, Davidson had no answer for the Aggie defense which forced 19 turnovers with 15 steals, tied for the fourth most in Utah State team history. This was led by a five-steal effort by graduate guard Drake Allen, who rounded out his stellar stat line with 12 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Junior guard Mason Falslev also played a strong defensive role, nabbing four steals.
In total, Utah State shot 59.3 percent (35-of-59) from the floor, 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from 3-point range and 85.7 percent (12-of-14) at the charity stripe. Davidson shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) from the field, 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from behind the arc and 64.7 percent (11-of-17) at the free throw line.
Across Utah State's two games in Charleston, Collins Jr. averaged 30.5 points and 3.5 assists per game to earn MVP honors.
This was Utah State's fourth MTE tournament title in the past five years and its third-straight, after winning the Myrtle Beach Invitational in 2021-22, the Cayman Islands Classic in 2023-24 and the ESPN NIT Season Tip-Off in 2024-25.
UP NEXT
Utah State will return home for a single game next week, as the Aggies host Montana State at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on Mountain West Network, and broadcast locally on KMYU.
TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2025-26 men's basketball season have sold out. Fans can purchase single game tickets for available remaining games here. A waitlist for 2026-27 season tickets is now available here.
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