SAN DIEGO — MJ Collins‘ steal and emphatic one-handed slam dunk with 1:13 left gave him 20 points and Utah State opened its fourth straight NCAA tournament by beating Villanova 86-76 on Friday.
Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, scored 22 and helped bring the Aggies back from a 10-point deficit early in the second half.
Both players came on strong in the second half for Utah State (29-6), the No. 9 seed in the West Region that will play No. 1 seed Arizona in the second round on Sunday. The Wildcats beat No. 16 Long Island 92-58 on Friday. The Aggies are in the second round for the second time in three seasons.
Collins had only four points and Falslev just six in the first half before turning it on in the final 20 minutes.
“The ball was a little too pumped up for me,” Collins joked. “But I kind of, I had to lock in. It was winning time. So the ball started to go in.”
He had two incredible scores in the span of four possessions.
With the Aggies up two, Collins came up with a turnover near the Villanova free throw line, raced down court, dribbled behind his back and laid it in, was fouled and finished the three-point play for a 78-73 lead with 2:53 left.
“I’ve been playing 2K a lot lately,” he said, referring to a video game. “Just natural instinct kind of took over, and-1.
After No. 8 seed Villanova (24-9) committed a five-second inbound violation, Falslev fed Collins for a layup and an 80-73 lead. Collins intercepted a pass by Bryce Lindsay and went in for his slam for an 84-74 lead.
“The steals, you know, just reading the game,” Collins said. “I know we had two on the ball. So I just ran over. It was nowhere he could throw it to except me. So I ran, grabbed it and went and dunked it.”
Lindsay made six 3-pointers and scored 25 points for Villanova. Duke Brennan and Tyler Perkins added 15 points apiece.
The Wildcats used a 9-1 run to open the second half and take a 48-38 lead.
Villanova made 14 of 30 3-pointers to counter Utah State’s matchup zone. Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun picked up the structure of the Aggies’ matchup zone from Ralph Willard, the veteran coach who also happens to the father of Villanova’s first-year coach, Kevin Willard.
“I think we took enough 3s, and for me personally, I just got going early,” Lindsay said. “My teammates found me. I just found an open slot in the defense and I just let it fly.”
The Aggies countered with a strong inside game, where they outscored the Wildcats 42-26 in the paint.
Villanova had been outscored 16-2 in the paint in falling behind 22-16 with 11 minutes left in the first half when Willard was asked by a TV sideline reporter how the Wildcats were going to keep the Aggies out of the paint.
“I’m going to fire my staff,” he said, before reporter Lauren Shehadi said, “Not now,” to which the coach said: “Yeah, I am … The only thing I’m going to do is fire them and get a new staff.”
Asked about online criticism of the moment, he said: “I don’t care. Welcome to my life. It’s a joke.”
The Aggies have won five straight, including beating San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament title game.
“Our guys in the last seven, eight minutes, I thought we really buckled down,” Calhoun said. “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.”
