Utah State is taking a break from its quest for another Mountain West championship to play a late-season nonconference game against one of college basketball’s most well-known programs.
The Aggies won their first Mountain West regular-season title in 2023-24. They’re sitting in first place in the conference this season, but San Diego State isn’t far behind. Utah State will divert its attention away from the league on Saturday as Memphis travels across the country for its first game at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.
Utah State (21-3, 12-2 MWC) has won six-straight games thanks in large part to two veterans who have been lighting up the scoreboard. Vanderbilt transfer MJ Collins leads the team and ranks No. 3 in the Mountain West with 18.3 points a game. Six-foot-4 junior Mason Falslev is No. 2 on the team and No. 7 in the conference with 16.1 points a game, and he leads the Aggies with 5.7 rebounds a night.
The Aggies lead the conference with 84.1 points a game, a .512 team field goal percentage, and a +3.45 turnover margin. Their offense is going to have to stay hot and pull out a win over the Tigers, especially with the murderer’s row of a schedule that Utah State has left.
Following its showdown with Memphis, Utah State’s schedule looks like this: vs. Boise State, at Nevada, at San Diego State, vs. Grand Canyon, at UNLV, and vs. New Mexico. The Aggies will certainly be battle-tested heading into the Mountain West Tournament.
Memphis (12-12, 7-5 American) saw its two-game winning streak snapped by a 76-69 loss to North Texas on Thursday. The Tigers are coached by former NBA star Penny Hardaway. They’re led by Kansas State transfer Dug McDaniel, who averages 12.9 points a game and ranks No. 4 in the AAC with 112 assists. McNeese State transfer Sincere Parker is averaging 11.7 points a night.
Memphis at Utah State Odds
Utah State is a 14.5-point college basketball betting odds favorite on BetMGM as of this writing, and the Over/Under is 154.5 points.
The Moneyline is at -1200 for Utah State and +750 for Memphis.
Memphis at Utah State on TV
The nonconference game featuring Memphis and Utah State will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
Memphis at Utah State Prediction
I predict Utah State wins, 84-72.
Memphis doesn’t have an elite scorer to lean on, and Utah State is just too complete as a team to drop a game of this magnitude late in the season.
Collins and Falslev have played in a combined 166 career games, Drake Allen is one of the best point guards in the Mountain West, and the Aggies have one of the deepest teams in the conference.
Freshman point guard Elijah Perryman came off the bench to lead Utah State with 16 points and seven assists in a 91-78 win over Fresno State on Tuesday. Butler transfer Kolby King added 14 points and seven rebounds, and 6-foot-9 junior Karson Templin chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds. The Aggies’ bench outscored the Bulldogs’ 43-19.
Memphis is also heading into one of the Mountain West’s most raucous venues. Utah State is 10-1 this season at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, which is averaging 9,467 fans per game. The Tigers are 2-7 on the road this season.
