SAN DIEGO — MJ Collins Jr. scored seven of his 20 points on two pivotal layups and a dunk in the final three minutes as No. 9 seed Utah State rallied for an 86-76 victory over eighth-seeded Villanova on Friday in West Region first-round play.
Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Player of the Year, delivered 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Aggies (29-6), who will face top-seeded Arizona on Sunday. Adlan Elamin added 13 points and seven rebounds while Drake Allen contributed 11 points, six assists and three steals.
Bryce Lindsay paced all scorers with 25 points for Villanova (24-9), which led for much of the second half. Duke Brennan and Tyler Perkins added 15 points apiece. The Wildcats took their last lead, 73-71, with 6:04 to play on Lindsay’s sixth and final 3-pointer.
Utah State outscored Villanova 15-3 the rest of the way.
“Our guys in the last 7-8 minutes, I thought we really buckled down,” said Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun. “Our execution offensively was tremendous, our screening, getting to the next action. And I thought what won the game was our will-to and our want-to. This team has been very connected through the year. And in March, you have to be connected.”
Utah State capped a crucial 9-0 run late in the second half when Falslev snapped a back-door pass to an open Collins, free after diving to the rim on a well-executed back-cut. Collins’ basket opened up an 80-73 Aggies lead with 2:12 to go.
After a Lindsay free throw snapped Villanova’s 4:03 scoreless drought, Falslev hit a stop-and-pop jumper. Collins added the exclamation point, intercepting a Lindsay pass on the way to a rim-shaking dunk.
Collins also provided the pivotal play at the start of Utah State’s run — scoring at the rim against contact thanks to a slick behind-the-back dribble move.
“I’ve been playing (NBA) 2K a lot lately,” Collins said, jokingly giving credit to the popular video game series. “Natural instinct kind of took over.”
The converted and-one opportunity electrified the Aggies fans who filled a portion of the lower bowl at the home arena of Mountain West rival San Diego State.
For much of the game, they watched Lindsay fill it up as Villanova transformed an early nine-point deficit into a 10-point lead in the second half.
“Bryce has been great all year,” said Villanova coach Kevin Willard. “I know he went through that tough stretch in February (scoring only 12 combined points over four games), and I think the Big East coaches did a really good job of being physical with him. But he’s had that year for us all year.”
When Acaden Lewis drove for a layup at the 17:07 mark, Villanova owned a 50-40 lead. It took just under three minutes for Utah State to pull even.
The teams proceeded to trade the lead nine times until Utah State made its defining 9-0 run.
–Field Level Media
