USU Drops Mountain West Opener In Road Loss To Air Force

Dec 29, 2021, 4:50 PM

Utah State guard Steven Ashworth (Courtesy of USU Athletics)

(Courtesy of USU Athletics)

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SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah State men’s basketball team began Mountain West Conference play with a close loss on the road to the Air Force Falcons.

The Falcons hosted the Aggies on Wednesday, December 29.

USU fell to Air Force, 49-47.

Final in Colorado Springs – Air Force 49, Utah State 47. Aggies will be back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 4, hosting Boise State at 8 p.m. #AggiesAllTheWay

— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 29, 2021

It was a back-and-forth contest all game long. Following the opening 20 minutes of action, the Aggies and Falcons went to the halftime break knotted at 22 apiece.

At the half in Colorado Springs we're all tied up at 22. #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/Kem8iO9wXE

— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) December 29, 2021

The teams were neck-and-neck down to the closing minutes of the game until the battle was decided at the free throw line.

USU struggled to score during the last few minutes.

After a Justin Bean dunk cut Utah State’s deficit to one point, the Aggies failed to score in the final three minutes until Steven Ashworth buried a couple of free throws with five seconds remaining.

Ashworth’s potential game-tying three-point attempt didn’t connect with one second to go and the Aggies fell by two points.

Battle to the end to get the dub over Utah State 😤 pic.twitter.com/XsvTlW5wex

— Air Force Men's Basketball (@AF_MBB) December 29, 2021

Neither team owned a lead of more than seven points throughout the game.

Utah State finished the game shooting 32.7 percent overall and only 1-19 for 5.3 percent from beyond the arc. Bean led USU with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Air Force shot 36.0 percent from the field, including 29.6 percent from downtown.