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Utah State is getting defensive.

It shows.

Heading into Tuesday night's trip to Air Force, the Aggies have allowed an average of only 69.8 points their last five games. In the previous six, which included five losses, opponents averaged 80.8 points.

The defensive improvement started as soon as coach Tim Duryea shuffled his starting lineup, mostly to make the Aggies' bigger and improve their rebounding.

With freshman Quinn Taylor at center and junior Lew Evans at power forward, Utah State has won three of its last five games — all with authority.

In victories over Colorado State (72-59), New Mexico (80-72) and San Jose State (88-70), the Aggies trailed for only 12 minutes. The Rams, Lobos and Spartans shot a combined 22 of 75 from the 3-point line.

Even in its most recent losses, USU played well.

The Aggies lost in the final minute at Fresno State (73-68) and Nevada (73-68), otherwise they would be taking a five-game winning streak to Air Force.

Duryea says he will stick with the same starting line-up against the Falcons, which means small forward Jalen Moore, shooting guard Chris Smith and point guard Darius Perkins will join Taylor and Evans.

"Our defensive discipline has been really good," Duryea said. "… We've done a good job on the boards, limiting teams to one shot."

With two games remaining in the Mountain West Conference regular season, Utah State can finish as high as a tie for sixth with UNLV and/or Colorado State. They could also finish as low as 10th, if the Aggies lose to Air Force and Fresno State on Saturday.

If all the pieces fell into place and Utah State emerged as the No. 6 seed, it would open the Mountain West tournament against last-place San Jose State.

On the other hand, if Utah State slipped all the way to 10th, opening the tournament against UNLV on the Rebels' home court in Las Vegas would be a distinct possibility.

Beating Air Force, of course, is rarely easy.

The Falcons come off impressive victories over UNLV (79-74) and New Mexico (86-69) and a crushing 64-63 loss at Fresno. In that game, they owned a 63-54 lead with two minutes remaining before the Bulldogs' Marvelle Harris closed the game with 10 straight points.

"They are playing tremendously well," Duryea said, referring to the Falcons. "… They are playing with total confidence and with total knowledge of their system. The force they're playing with offensively right now is really impressive to watch — how hard they cut [and] how crisp they pass. They are really carving teams up right now." —

Utah State at Air Force

P At Clune Arena

Tipoff • 7 p.m.

TV • ROOT Radio • 610 AM, 1280 AM, 95.9 FM, 97.5 FM, 102.1 FM

Records • Utah State 14-13, 6-10; Air Force 14-15, 5-11

Series • Utah State, 13-3

Last meeting • Utah State 79-60 (Jan. 12)

About the Aggies • They have won three of their last five games. … They are 4-7 on the road. … They are 12-1 when scoring more than 70 points. … In the last eight games, senior G Chris Smith has made 22 of 41 3-point shots (.537). … Junior F Jalen Moore has scored 1,041 points in his career. He needs 11 to move past Vince Washington (1,049) and Desmond Pinegar (1,051) for 31st place on the all-time list.

About the Falcons • They are 12-4 at home, including wins over Boise State (61-53), New Mexico (76-72) and UNLV (79-74). … Their leading scorers are junior F Hayden Graham (14.1) and junior G Zach Koncur (9.3). … Over the last four games, sophomore G Jacob Van has averaged 17.8 points. He's made 10 of his 17 shots from the 3-point line.