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Colorado Springs, Colo. • Again, Utah State had its chances. Again, the Aggies couldn't make a big play down the stretch.
Jacob Van scored 16 points and made three free throws in the closing seconds Saturday, leading Air Force to a 78-73 victory over the Aggies at Clune Arena.
Freshman guard Koby McEwen led Utah State with a career-high 22 points. Senior forward Jalen Moore added 21. But neither saw the ball on the game's two most critical possessions and the Aggies lost their third in a row.
Air Force, which trailed for only 20 seconds in the game, improved to 8-7 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West.
"… To close it out, I'm so proud of our team," said Falcon coach Dave Pilipovich.
Utah State slipped to 6-7 and 0-2 in league play. The Aggies' last four losses have been by a total of 15 points.
USU started miserably. The basketball failed to reach the rim on four of their first five offensive possessions and Air Force built a 15-0 lead with 15:40 left in the first half.
Moore got Utah State going with three straight 3-pointers before the Aggies took their only lead when freshman Sam Merrill's 3-pointer made it 34-31.
Utah State misfired on its final seven possessions, however, and Air Force closed half with nine straight points to take a 40-34 halftime lead.
The second half was close all the way.
McEwen's 3-pointer with 3:18 left tied it at 68, but Trevor Lyons and Van knocked down 3-pointers to help the Falcons regain a 75-70 lead.
Utah State stayed alive when McEwen banked in a 3-pointer with 48.1 second left and the Aggies got the ball back. But Shane Rector drove into traffic and missed a contested floater that would have tied the game.
Utah State quickly fouled Van, who made one free throw with 19 seconds remaining.
Down 76-73, the Aggies had plenty of time to search out an open 3-pointer to tie the game. With eight seconds left, though, Rector missed a 26-footer. Ngor Barnaba rebounded but failed to convert and Utah State was again forced to foul Van. His two free throws with 2.1 seconds left sealed the victory.
"It's a horrible formula that we have fallen into," Utah State coach Tim Duryea said. "It's about the worst formula you can devise to win a basketball game — not only on the road, but anywhere. You just can't play from behind all night long.
Said McEwen: "We just need to keep our composure, when it comes to these close games. We need to trust the system, trust the coaches in the positions they put us in and execute down the stretch. If we start to trust each other down the stretch more often, we should be able to close out these close games."