LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men's basketball will be making its 25th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time, including its 13th in the last 26 years, when the 10th-seeded Aggies face seventh-seeded UCLA in the first round of the Midwest Region on Thursday, March 20, in Lexington, Kentucky.
 
Game times and broadcast information for all NCAA Tournament games will be announced Sunday night.
 
Utah State (26-7 overall, 15-5 Mountain West) has qualified for six of the last seven NCAA Tournaments, including its third in as many years, becoming just the second program ever to do so under three different non-interim head coaches. USU earned the Mountain West's automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Utah State is receiving an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year and sixth time in school history, joining the 2006, 2010, 2021, 2023 and 2024 teams. The 2006 and 2010 teams were both 12-seeds, while the 2021, 2023 and 2025 teams were all 10-seeds and the 2024 team was an eight seed.
 
Last year, Utah State defeated No 9 seed TCU 88-72 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to No. 1 seed and national runner-up Purdue 106-67 in the second round in Indianapolis, Indiana.
 
Utah State has played in the NCAA Tournament 17 times since seedings started in 1980. Overall, USU has been listed as an eighth seed twice (2019, 2024), a 10th seed four times (1983, 1988, 2023, 2025), an 11th seed three times (1980, 2009, 2021), a 12th seed six times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2010, 2011), a 14th seed once (2005) and a 15th seed once (2003).
 
Utah State finished in third place in the Mountain West this season with a 15-5 league record and enters the NCAA Tournament with a 7-4 record in its last 11 games. USU's last game was an 83-72 loss to eventual MW Tournament Champion and No. 2 seed Colorado State in the semifinals.
 
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Utah State has an NCAA Men's Basketball NET Ranking of 37, an overall strength of schedule of 83, 11 wins away from home with a 7-4 road record and a 4-1 mark on neutral courts, and a 2-4 record against Quad 1 teams with wins at No. 20 San Diego State and at Saint Mary's. USU also has an 8-3 record against Quad 2 opponents, a 5-0 record against Quad 3 opponents, and a 10-0 record against Quad 4 opponents.
 
Utah State is 5-5 against NCAA Tournament teams with two wins against San Diego State (67-66, 79-71), a road win against Saint Mary's (75-68), a home win against Montana (95-83) and a home win against Colorado State (93-85). USU's five losses are to New Mexico and Colorado State twice, along with UC San Diego.
 
Utah State and UCLA will be meeting for the 11th time in series history, including for the fourth time in the NCAA Tournament as the Bruins lead the series 7-3. The last meeting between the two teams was in the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina, as the Bruins posted a 75-50 win. UCLA also defeated the Aggies in the 1970 West Regional Finals in Seattle, Washington, 101-79, and in the 1962 West Regional Semifinals in Provo, Utah, 73-62.
 
UCLA is 22-10 on the season and tied for fourth in the Big Ten Conference after posting a 13-7 league mark. The Bruins, who are 7-8 away from home this season, are 4-4 in their last eight games heading into the NCAA Tournament and lost to Wisconsin 86-70 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. UCLA is led by junior forward Tyler Bilodeau, who is averaging 13.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while sophomore guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr., is averaging 11.6 points and sophomore guard Sebastian Mack is averaging 10.0 points per game.
 
This will be the fourth time that Utah State has played a team from the Big 10 Conference in the NCAA Tournament, which includes its loss to Purdue last year. USU also posted a 77-68 overtime win against Ohio State in the 2001 NCAA Tournament and lost to Iowa 64-59 in the 1983 NCAA Tournament.
 
Utah State had two players honored by the Mountain West this season. Fifth year guard Ian Martinez was named to the first team, while sophomore guard Mason Falslev was named to the second team and to the defensive team.
 
Martinez is averaging 16.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.7 assists and 0.9 steals in 29.5 minutes per game, while shooting 44.6 percent (164-of-368), including 37.9 percent (78-of-106) from 3-point range, and 87.6 (149-of-170) from the free throw line. Falslev is averaging 14.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals in 32.2 minutes per game, while shooting 50.4 percent (191-of-379), including 40.0 percent (52-of-130) from 3-point range, and 56.3 percent (58-of-103) at the free throw line.
 
Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun is 26-7 (.788) in his first season at Utah State and 268-151 (.640) in 13 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Calhoun is coaching in the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time. As the head coach at Fairmont State (2013-17), Calhoun coached in four NCAA Division II Tournaments including leading the Falcons to a national runner-up finish in 2017. Overall, Calhoun will be coaching in the postseason for the eighth time.
 
Utah State has five players on its current roster with NCAA Tournament experience in Martinez, Falslev, senior forward Aubin Gateretse, junior forward Isaac Johnson and sophomore forward Karson Templin.
 
Martinez has played in four NCAA Tournament games, two at Utah State last year and two for Maryland in 2023. He scored 21 points against No. 9 seed TCU and 11 points against No. 1 seed Purdue last season. At Maryland, he scored seven points and had three rebounds against No. 1 seed Alabama in the round of 32 and did not score in the first round against West Virginia.
 
Falslev has played in two NCAA Tournament games as he scored eight points against No. 9 seed TCU and 10 points against No. 1 seed Purdue last season. Johnson has played in two NCAA Tournament games as he scored a career high 19 points against TCU in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament and did not score against No. 1 seed Purdue. Templin has played in one NCAA Tournament game as he scored two points against No. 1 seed Purdue last year. Gateretse has played in one NCAA Tournament game as he scored six points and had six rebounds against No. 1 seed UConn last season while at Stetson.
 
The winner of the Utah State-UCLA game will play the winner of No. 2 seed Tennessee and No. 15 seed Wofford on Saturday, March 22.
 
Fans should stay tuned to www.UtahStateAggies.com as well as its social media platforms at @USUBasketball for complete NCAA Tournament information, including game time announcement.
 
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