Plenty of interest on court, and the bench, for first-place showdown in the Pit

Fan bases want the big name. And sometimes, that exactly what is needed.

Look no farther than the four-year rehabilitation of Lobo basketball that Richard Pitino brought to Albuquerque after being hired in 2021.

But when the Utah State Aggies (18-3, 9-2 Mountain West) and UNM Lobos (18-4, 9-2 MW) tip off Wednesday in a first-place showdown in the Pit, casual fans may not be familiar with the names. But make no mistake, more than just Mountain West fans will be watching.

Sure the game is the headliner, but the head coaching matchup of Jerrod Calhoun and Eric Olen — two former Division II coaches who today are considered two of the brightest coaching minds in the country outside of the power conferences — will be must-see TV for college hoops junkies across the country.

"I mean, if I was voting today, I would have him for (Mountain West) Coach of the Year," Calhoun, the 44-year-old second-year Utah State head coach, said of Olen, the 45-year-old first-year Lobos coach. "I think he's done a really good job in the portal, even a better job of high school recruiting and developing guys.

"I like the way he manages, you know? He and I have had a lot of good conversations over the last two years, just sharing ideas, how to manage a team and motivate kids. I think we have similar styles."

For Calhoun, though he was mentored by Bob Huggins at West Virginia as an assistant coach, that head coaching style really started to take form 20 miles southwest of Morgantown — coaching away from the D-II spotlight at Division II Fairmont State from 2012-2017. Success at D-I Youngstown State followed and now at Utah State.

"As you look back on those years, just having to do a lot — you don't have the help that you do at this level, so you do so much yourself," Calhoun said. "Really Paul Molinari (now on Utah State's staff) and Joe Mazzulla (now the NBA champion coach of the Boston Celtics who is also Calhoun's best friend) were on my staff and we had to really brainstorm and come up with a lot of different things on our own. It was a lot of trial by error."

For Olen, his overnight success story with the Lobos was two decades in the making at D-II UC San Diego, which transitioned to a Division I program under his guidance as head coach.

"I feel like I learned a ton at the Division II level. I got a lot of reps as a head coach in a different environment, where there's no cameras around, nobody cares to talk to you about what you're doing or why you're doing it. And I think there's a freedom in that, as a coach, to kind of figure out how you want to play, what's the best way to play with your team," Olen said. "You probably see more creativity at lower levels sort of out of necessity. 

"I think that the years of Division II certainly shaped my career in terms of learning and growing and kind of getting those reps in an environment where nobody's paying attention."

Wednesday night, no such luck. Around 15,000 fans in the Pit and the late-night eyes of the college basketball world (thanks to FS1's national broadcast) will be watching the two put their teams and their coaching styles on display.

"I think there's some unbelievable coaches at the D-II level that don't ever get recognized or get a chance," Calhoun said. "So I feel very fortunate to be where I'm at."

Reunited and if feels so good

Lobo starting point guard Deyton Albury has had this one circled on the calendar since ... well, before it was even on a calendar.

This was always going to be a big one, no matter when it was played.

The 6-foot-3 guard transferred to play for the Lobos this past offseason — a better fit in Olen's system than Calhoun's he felt, though that's not necessarily a knock on the latter.

The former Aggie just really liked the vision Olen had for him as the aggressive rim-attacking point guard for the Lobos, something that got utilized at USU, just not to the volume it is now.

As far as the reunion with his old teammates?

"I'm excited for it," Albury said Tuesday. "It's going to be a good opportunity."

And is there any additional role for Albury for Wednesday night's game, such as player/scouting report advisor?

"I've been giving the coaching staff little tips from things I remember last year — a lot of personnel," Albury said. "Yeah, I've been helping them."

That was news to Olen.

"I think assistant coaches are probably talking to him about his experiences relative to some of the players that are back from their team," Olen said. "I personally haven't had that conversation with Deyton, but I know our staff. They put in a ton of time trying to prepare and use every resource available. So if someone's around who's played with players that you're trying to evaluate, it makes sense to get their thoughts."

Quad 1 in the Pit

Utah State on Tuesday was No. 27 in the NCAA's NET rankings.

That makes Wednesday's game an always-coveted Quad 1 game for the Lobos (Quad 1 classification for a home game is whenever the opponent is in the Top 30).

It's the first Quad 1 game in the Pit for the Lobos since they beat Colorado State, 68-66, on Feb. 21, 2024.

UNM is 5-2 in Quad 1 opportunities in the Pit over the past five seasons.

"We know Utah State is a good team. Obviously, we all know it's a Quad 1 opportunity. We know how important that is," Albury said. "One of the big team goals is to make the (NCAA) Tournament, so an opportunity like this can help us get there and we want to take it as serious as possible and come out with a victory."

What's Mason Falslev best at?

If you've ever watched a Utah State telecast, you've probably heard the announcers rave about how Mason Falslev was recruited harder to play football out of high school than basketball.

There is no denying he's jack-of-all-trades type of player — the sort of versatility that makes him a Mountain West Player of the Year candidate.

He scores inside and out, he rebounds, he's one of the national leaders in steals and tends to find a way to impact winning each time he plays.

So, the Journal asked both coaches in Wednesday's game what is the ONE thing on the court Falslev does best?

"Basketball. He's a really good basketball player," Olen said. "He plays both sides of the floor (and a) ton of disruption, defensively. (He) rebounds it. He gets to the rim, shoots it, makes plays for other people. I just think he's a winning player who competes at a really high level. He has a care factor. I have a ton of respect for him as a player and competitor."

Said Calhoun: "He's just a competitor. He doesn't do one thing great, he does a lot of a lot of things really, really well. He shoots the ball. He steals the ball. He passes the ball. But every day, I would say his competitive nature is what ... drives our team. He wants to win in every drill, every practice. When your best players are your hardest playing players, that really helps your team."

Road comebacks need not apply

The Lobos haven't trailed in a game for the past 88 minutes, 1 second — since the 8:01 mark of the second half of their Jan. 24 win over Nevada.

The wire-to-wire, never-trailed road wins last week at UNLV and San Jose State marked the first time in program history the Lobos never trailed in back-to-back Mountain West road games.

Series notes

Utah State leads the overall series with the Lobos 34-15 and it's tied, 11-11, in the Pit.

The Lobos won the past two in the series — an 82-63 win in Logan, Utah on Feb. 1 last year in a game for first place in the standings, and a nail-biter 82-79 win in the Pit on Feb. 16.

Olen series note

Olen's UC San Diego squad beat Utah State in Logan even before the Lobos did last season, upsetting the Aggies 75-73 in the Spectrum on Dec. 17, 2024.

Current Lobo Deyton Albury had 15 points off the bench in that game for Utah State and started the rest of the season.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.