yahoo - 3/21/2026 3:21:38 AM - GMT (+2 )
No. 9 seed Utah State pulled off an upset against No. 8 Villanova in a 86-76 win during the first round of the Men's NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California, on March 20.
It was a back-and-forth battle throughout, everything that you love about March Madness.
Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun must have said something during the pregame pep talk inside the Aggies' locker room that resonated with his players as they jumped out to a 22-13 lead.
What needs to be studied is Calhoun's playbook, let alone coaching.
"This guy is an offensive genius," CBS commentator and former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy said of Calhoun.
Once Villanova settled into the game, they went on a run of their own, eventually taking their first lead of the game, 33-31, with 5:10 to go in the first half. They kept a two-point lead going into the halftime break, largely thanks to 7-of-14 shooting from deep, while the Aggies only connected on one attempt in eight tries. They ended the game with 14 threes on 47% shooting, while Utah State shot 13% for the game.
Villanova built a 10-point lead early in the second half but Utah State didn't fade or shy away from the task.
The fight of the Aggies' throughout the game is what really turned heads. They remained calm, leaned on each other and went on a 14-4 run to climb their way back to tie the game at 54 with 14:05 remaining.
Both teams continued to trade blows until Utah State pulled away in the end starting on the defensive end which turned into easy fastbreak points, and offensively, they were polished. The Aggies ended the game on a 15-3 run.
"Defense. Coach came in at halftime [and said] we're in a good spot, down two," said senior guard MJ Collins Jr. who had 20 points. "We weren't making threes, so we knew we had to rely on our defense. And it kind of carried us over in the second half. That's what we're known for, getting our offense based off our defense. You know, we switched up a couple coverages late in the game, and it kind of messed them up. They were kind of stagnant, and we executed off of it."
CBS Sports analyst Jamal Mashburn, who played 11 NBA seasons out of University of Kentucky, had high praise for Calhoun and what he's done with the Utah State program.
"Just a masterful job of what he's been able to do," Mashburn said. "Teach these kids how to play that way, and also put them in a position to be aggressive and not be afraid to make mistakes."
Even TNT Sports host Adam Lefkoe had to admire Calhoun's coaching prowess.
"Many of you have not seen Utah State. But we sat here and went, 'Coaches around the country need to steal their plays.' Hopefully they don't steal their players," Lefkoe said. "Utah State's offense was phenomenal. ... Let's look at the highlights because almost every play you see is a masterclass from coach Calhoun."
Held in high regard is Calhoun, who's in his second season as the head men's basketball coach at Utah State. He's the 22nd head coach in the Aggies' men's basketball program history.
"I really want to tip our cap to Villanova," Calhoun told reporters after the game. "I thought that was just a tremendous basketball game. They're very, very well coached. I thought Kevin [Willard] did a great job of, you know, really changing up the defenses, man, zone. They made an incredible amount of threes, and they put a ton of pressure on the paint."
He added: "Kevin is a tremendous coach, but our guys in the last seven, eight minutes, I thought we really buckled down. 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 throughout the year, and in March, you have to be connected."
Utah State was led by junior guard Mason Falslev with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Fellow senior guard Drake Allen filled the stat sheet with 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals. Freshman forward Adlan Elamin, who climbed the rafters a few times for soaring dunks, added 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Villanova was led by sophomore guard Bryce Lindsay with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 6-of-11 from beyond the three-point stripe. Senior forward Duke Brennan and junior guard Tyler Perkins each had 15. Sophomore guard Malachi Palmer added 11 for the Wildcats.
Utah State finding their 'swagger'Calhoun has his team playing with a chip on their shoulder and so far it's served them well.
"We did not like our seed. We were not too fond of being a 9-seed," Calhoun said. "We won 28 games. We won the [Mountain West] regular season title, we won the tournament title. So when this team has an edge, and they play, you know, with a little bit of swagger and a little bit of toughness and resilience, we can cause a lot of problems."
If anyone should have been prepped for Calhoun and Utah State, it was Willard, the same one who joked about his staff's end-of-season termination following a slow start during the first-round matchup.
"You know, this defense was originated from from Ralph Willard, Kevin's father, and it's hard to play against," Calhoun said. "So I think, as MJ said, we didn't want to overreact to the threes, but we felt like the game would loosen up eventually. And you saw MJ made some big steals, Mason, Adlan, Drake, their activity, KT's [Karson Templin] activity, defensively, I thought was the difference."
Up next for the Aggies are another pack of Wildcats, No. 1-seeded Arizona in the NCAA men's basketball tournament Round of 32.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State defeats Villanova in NCAA Tournament
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