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A split second after snagging a long offensive rebound just beyond the free-throw line in the second half of last Saturday’s exhibition game against Santa Clara, Utah State forward Connor Turnbull realized that no one stood between him and the basket.

That’s when Turnbull turned into a bull, charging down the lane and attacking the rim with every bit of his 6-foot-11, 225-pound frame.

But before he could throw down what seemed destined to be a spectacular slam, SCU center Sidi Gueye managed to slide over, get a piece of the ball and deny Turnbull of a highlight-worthy dunk. Still, the ball ended up in the hands of USU guard Brayden Boe, and moments later Gueye fouled Turnbull, leading to two made free throws by the transfer from Evansville.

“Yeah, that one hurts a little bit,” Turnbull said after Utah State’s 101-79 defeat of the Broncos in the Aggies’ final exhibition game of the season at the Spectrum. “I wish I would have made it, but you know, at least I got the foul.”

That doesn’t mean the moment was forgotten — at least by Mason Falslev. For the rest of the game, whenever the senior guard was on the bench at the same time as Turnbull, Falslev made sure to get a good-natured jab in at the expense of the Aggies’ new big man.

“Mason tends to tease a lot when guys mess up,” Turnbull noted with a hint of a smile. “He’s the first guy to mess with you, but he’s always got your back, too.”

Certainly, no one was more pleased with Turnbull’s strong performance against Santa Clara than Falslev, who led Utah State with 25 points after missing an earlier Aggies’ exhibition game with a “lower-body injury.”

Turnbull makes star turn

Playing in a very physical contest against the Broncos, who were granted an at-large berth in the 2026 NCAA Tournament after winning 26 games, Turnbull totaled 16 points and eight rebounds while playing just under 16 minutes.

A knee injury limited Turnbull to just 16 games with the Aces last season, and the 2025-26 Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year is still working his way back into playing shape.

“I’m proud of him from the standpoint of getting in a lot before practices during the day,” USU coach Ben Jacobson said of Turnbull. “His injury last year occurred right around Christmas, so he didn’t play in January and February, other than one game each month. He really wasn’t healthy, and he wasn’t able to have much of a spring. So, we’ve been working to get him healthy.

“… And when you don’t play for six months, especially as a bigger guy, it takes a little bit to get back in shape and get all of your strength back,“ Jacobson continued. ”But his rhythm’s pretty good, and there’s still some room for his strength and conditioning to get better. And I think that’s exciting.”

Turnbull, who went 5 for 9 from the field and 6 for 6 from the free-throw line against the Broncos, scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in just eight foul-plagued minutes in USU’s previous exhibition game at Saint Mary’s. So, it’s easy to see what the Missouri native is capable of as his conditioning and strength improve.

“We knew they were a very aggressive team and that they were going to foul a lot,” Turnbull said. “So, it was about pump-faking, getting guys in the air and then just trying to fight through contact.

“We were told that if we got hit on the wrist or something, that we can’t drop the ball. So that was kind of the goal: Fight through contact and just get the and-one.”

Each team was called for 26 fouls in the contest, but the Aggies won the rebound battle by a 46-35 margin while shooting 49.3% as a team. Falslev finished 8 for 13 from the field and 2 for 5 from 3-point range after sitting out the game a week earlier at St. Mary’s, which Utah State still won, 97-89.

Falslev’s impact

Jacobson said there was very little concern that Falslev, who also added seven rebounds while playing a team-high 23 minutes, wouldn’t be back on the court against the Broncos. Due to USU’s travel back and forth to California and scheduled off days, Falslev only missed one practice, Tuesday afternoon.

“So, he had five days, and he felt really good Thursday and (Friday),” Jacobson said of the 2026 Mountain West Player of the Year. “So, there were no questions in the way of his health in terms of planning.”

Jacobson also noted that he appreciates what Falslev brings to Jacobson’s first team as head coach of the Aggies, both on the court and off it.

While former USU coach Jerrod Calhoun was a little bit critical of what he felt was a lack of leadership early in the 2025-26 season, Jacobson made it abundantly clear that Falslev is “our leader,” followed closely by senior forward Karson Templin and graduate guard Dallin Hall, who was added to the roster in August.

“KT’s been around here and he understands what this place is and what it means and what it takes to do it right here. And Dallin’s been doing it for a long time, so it’s the three of them,” Jacobson noted. “But Mason’s our leader, right? And so it’s his thought process and his ideas in timeouts.

“He had a great one at halftime today, and it paid off big-time for us in some offensive possessions. As we were talking during the halftime break, he said, ‘Hey, what if we do this?’ And it was great for us, right? … It’s his team; he’s our leader. And he knows that his voice is always welcome.”

Utah State’s leader certainly led by example early in the second half, helping the Aggies pull away from a 41-35 lead at halftime by scoring nine of USU’s first 13 points of the second half. Turnbull then scored six straight points to stretch the Aggies’ advantage out to 19 points before a sudden long-range barrage helped the home team pull away by 28 points with 11 minutes left.

Ace in the hole

That 9-0 burst was triggered by a 3-pointer by Ace Reiser, who figures to be USU’s third-string point guard heading into the season. Defensive rebounds by Falslev and Templin then led to a trey by Hall and a second 3-pointer by Reiser just 46 seconds after his first one.

It could just be that Reiser is an ace in the hole for the Aggies, who finished the game 8 for 26 from 3-point range.

“I’m not surprised that he made them both; he lives in the gym,” Jacobson said of Reiser, an Alta High product who shot 44.8% from 3-point range last season at the College of Southern Idaho. “And it’s harder when you’ve been sitting for a long time, right? But he’s as prepared as anybody we’ve got on the roster, so I’m not surprised by it.

“… And I want our guys attacking. I want them being really aggressive, and Ace fits that.”

Reiser and fellow sophomore guard Brayden Boe each finished with eight points coming off the bench Saturday, while Hall also knocked down two 3-point attempts on his way to totaling 12 points, four rebounds and one assist as the starting point guard.

Templin, the 2026 Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year, started for the second straight game in place of forward Will Hornseth. A transfer who came with Jacobson from Northern Iowa, Hornseth is not currently “100%,” according to his coach, but he is getting closer.

The 6-9 junior came off the bench Saturday to contribute seven points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes, while Templin finished with eight points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.

Solomon Callaghan, a transfer from Wright State, started all three of USU’s exhibition games, totaling 22 points; however, Jacobson clearly anticipates getting better perimeter shooting from his junior guard, who went 0 for 3 from 3-point range against the Broncos to finish 2 for 11 from long distance in preseason play.

But the most perplexing performance by an Aggie on Saturday came from Kingston Tosi, who started the game at Saint Mary’s in Falslev’s absence and delivered a team-high 22 points in 31 minutes. Against the Broncos, the sophomore wing fouled out after a mere 13 minutes without taking a shot and committed two turnovers.

All in all, a dozen Aggies saw action against Santa Clara with backup point guard AJ Bates adding five points and four assists, including the pass of the game on a 60-foot strike to Callaghan for a layup. Junior forward Collin Mulholland, who has been dealing with several health issues this fall, was on the bench, along with freshman guard Jax Allen (ankle sprain) and sophomore center Bron Roberts (recovering from offseason ACL surgery).

Afterward, Jacobson was particularly pleased with his team’s performance on the defensive glass, limiting the Broncos to just 12 offensive rebounds a week after Saint Mary’s pulled down 26 offensive boards. And Santa Clara, which beat Stanford 83-78 in its only other exhibition game of the season, shot just 38.7% from the field, including a 6 for 30 performance from 3-point range.

“We made some good progress guarding the ball; we made some good progress with the pick-and-roll defense,” Jacobson noted. “… Those two areas defensively have been the ones where I felt like, ‘Man, we’ve got some work to do.’ And I saw some improvement today, which I really liked and felt good about.

“… The way we played defensively, that was a good week for us. So, if we can get a little better defensively this week, that’ll be good.”

Utah State opens the season Nov. 2, against Idaho State at the Spectrum. The Aggies also host Omaha (Nov. 7), Utah Tech (Nov. 10), UC San Diego (Nov. 13) and Weber State (Nov. 18) before finally leaving Cache Valley to play SMU and USC Nov. 25-26 at the Acrisure Series in Palm Springs, California.

“Obviously, I think we’ve shown pretty good growth throughout the three games,” Turnbull said when asked if he thinks the Aggies are ready for the official start of the 2026-27 season. “I think we’ve gotten better each time, so I like where we’re at. And then we’re just going to keep our heads down and try to improve next practice.”