LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men's basketball (25-6, 15-5 MW) wrapped up the 2024-25 regular season in dominant fashion on Saturday afternoon, defeating Air Force 87-47 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Following the game, the Aggies honored senior Aubin Gateretse, Dexter Akanno and Ian Martinez, who each played the final home game of their careers. 
 
The senior showed out for USU on senior day, combining for 32 points as Martinez went for 14, Akanno with 10 and Gateretse with eight. 
 
Akanno made the day even more memorable as he hit a major career milestone with 5:10 remaining in the contest, scoring the 1,000th point of his career on a triple from the right wing. The five-year college basketball journeyman has scored 272 of his now 1,001 career points in an Aggie uniform, after transferring in from Oregon State. 
 
In the final tune-up before next week's Mountain West Tournament, the Aggies put on a show from the start. USU scored 50 first-half points and never trailed, leading for over 39 minutes of action. 
 
The Aggies put together one of their most efficient stretches of basketball of the season in the first half, connecting on 70 percent (19-of-27) of their shots from the floor and 10 of their 15 3-pointers. USU recorded ten first half assists with just two turnovers, while forcing 10 turnovers on the other end of the court. Utah State also dominated down low, with an 18-8 points in the paint advantage. 
 
The second half was more of the same, Utah State coming out of the break with a 12-3 run then continuing to expand on its lead. A seven-minute field goal drought by the Falcons late in the half contributed to a 16-1 Aggie run as USU took its largest lead of the day with just under four minutes to play, a 47-point advantage at 84-37. 
 
In total, Utah State forced 19 Air Force turnovers while committing just eight of their own, scoring 26 points off of those takeaways. Senior guard Deyton Albury recorded a team-high three steals. The Aggies also outscored the Falcons 13-0 on fast breaks. 
 
Leading USU in the scoring column was sophomore guard Mason Falslev, who went for a game-high 18 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals in just 23 minutes of action. His points came in an efficient manner, as he went 8-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-3 from deep. 
 
Behind Utah State's three double-digit scorers, three more players finished with eight points, including Gatereste, graduate guard Drake Allen and sophomore wing Tucker Anderson. 
 
Utah State finished the game shooting 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the floor, 46.9 percent (15-of-32) from behind the 3-point arc and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the free throw line. Air Force shot 41.5 percent (17-of-41) from the field, including 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from 3-point range and 50.0 percent (7-of-14) at the charity stripe. 
 
UP NEXT
Utah State will now prepare for the Mountain West Tournament, which will be from March 12-15 in Las Vegas. The Aggies have clinched the 3-seed in the tournament and will face the winner of 6-seed UNLV and 11-seed Air Force on Thursday, March 13, at 9:30 p.m. (MT), on CBS Sports Network. 
 
FOLLOW
For more information on Utah State's men's basketball program, follow the Aggies on Facebook at usumensbasketball, on Twitter at @usubasketball and on Instagram at @usubasketball. Fans can also watch USU men's basketball highlights by visiting youtube.com/utahstateathletics.
 
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