Top dog Utah State walked into Clune Arena with authority and left with a 37-point romp. 

In the only regular-season matchup between Air Force and Utah State, a dominant Aggie team led for the entire contest to earn a 99-62 road win Tuesday. After leading by 14 at the half, A 13-1 run by Utah State over 7 minutes gave the Aggies all the momentum and Utah State led by as many as 40 points in the second half. 

“It’s the best team we’ve played so far,” head coach Joe Scott said. “They are good, they’ve been good. Really good players, well coached, do good things on both sides of the ball. They present a myriad of challenges offensively and how they play defense. I stressed resiliency possession to possession and we had it in the first half.

“Our defense hung in there, took care of the ball and as we did that things opened up for us offensively (in the first half). I didn’t recognize our defense in the second half. That was the key to the game.”

Utah State is ranked first in the Mountain West with a 13-1 record (4-0 MW) and leads the conference in several categories, including scoring offense with an average of 85.6 points, while a less experienced Air Force team (3-12, 0-4 MW) is last in the conference with 62.9 points.  

Senior MJ Collins Jr., the top scorer in the Mountain West with 20.2 points per game, led five Aggies in double digits with 20 points and three rebounds. The game also saw the return of former Falcon Luke Kearney, who now plays for Utah State after two years at Air Force. Kearney recorded 10 points, including two 3s, in 7 minutes of play. 

The Aggies shot 58% from the field, above their conference-leading team average of 52%, while Air Force shot 41% from the field and 74% from the foul line. The Falcons played a season-high six freshmen, including Brendan Martin, who went 2 for 2 from 3-point range for his first career points. 

The game could have been the last game between the programs with Utah State leaving the Mountain West after this season. The Aggies have won the last nine matchups and lead the series 30-7 overall. 

“They are a really good team, they showed why they are one of the top teams in the conference,” freshman Kam Sanders said. “We made a couple runs in the first half, wish we could have continued that. Practices need to be unbelievably intense tomorrow. I can’t wait.” 

The Aggies led 45-31 at the half, and led by as many as 20 after a 12-0 run with 3:36 left before a spark by Air Force cut their lead to 14. 

Air Force returns to Clune Arena on Saturday to host New Mexico at 1 p.m. The Lobos come to Colorado Springs with a 12-3 record making for another challenging opponent for the Falcons, but any experience is good experience, according to Scott. 

“No such thing as a bad experience,” Scott said. “When you have the belief in yourself and in the team and you’re competitive, every experience is a good experience. We are playing New Mexico on Saturday, they are good. We need to be the best we can defensively and that’s the thing that will help our offense over time.”