LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men's basketball unofficially opened its 2026-27 campaign with an exhibition victory Saturday afternoon at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, defeating Denver 86-76. This was the first of three exhibitions the Aggies will play before officially opening the season on Nov. 2 versus Idaho State.
In their first tune-up of the year, the Aggies exhibited their depth with 12 different players seeing time, all 12 getting into the scoring column, while 10 USU players played 10 minutes or more.
Senior guard Mason Falslev led the way for Utah State with an 18-point showing, connecting on 6-of-11 of his shots from the floor, 2-of-4 from deep and 4-of-5 at the charity stripe. He tacked on four rebounds, five assists and two steals as well, in 25 minutes of action.
The Aggies wasted no time taking control of the contest, opening the day with a 16-3 run before the first media timeout. USU led from nearly start-to-finish, never trailing outside of the first minute. Hot shooting continued throughout the first half, as USU connected on 57.7 percent (15-of-26) of its shots in the first 20 minutes, while limiting the Pioneers to 42.2 percent shooting (27-of-64).
After taking a 48-34 advantage into the break at halftime, USU opened the second stanza with a 12-5 run to take its largest lead of the day, a 21-point advantage at 60-39. While the Aggies continued to maintain control, Denver pushed back late but never cut the advantage to single-figures.
Utah State had a strong showing in the post, outrebounding Denver 31-22 and out-scoring the visitors in the paint 46-32. Junior forward Will Hornseth led USU's rebounding efforts with a near-double-double of 13 points and nine rebounds, including four offensive boards.
Senior forward Karson Templin filled the stat sheet in limited minutes, going for eight points, two boards, two assists and two steals in just 13 minutes as a reserve. In total, the Aggie bench accounted for 34 of the team's 86 points.
Utah State finished the day shooting 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the field, 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from 3-point range and 75.0 percent (18-of-24) at the free throw line. Denver shot 42.2 percent (27-of-64) from the floor, 32.0 percent (8-of-25) from deep and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) at the charity stripe.
UP NEXT
Utah State will play its second of three preseason exhibitions next week when it travels to Moraga, California, to face Saint Mary's on Saturday, Oct. 17. The game will tip at 8 p.m. (MT).
TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2026-27 Utah State men's basketball season are sold out. Fans interested in attending games can purchase a nonconference pass, which includes all home nonconference games, or single-game tickets, which are on sale now and available for purchase here.
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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