USU Men’s Hoops route old WAC foe in Myrtle Beach Tournament semifinals
CONWAY S.C. — The Utah State Aggies picked up their second win in the last 24 hours with an 85-58 route of the New Mexico State Aggies.
The USU defense shined throughout the game, holding New Mexico State to just 35% shooting. Utah State had everything clicking offensively as well, shooting 56% from the floor.
USU relied on several nice performances from individual players in their 27-point victory, getting 12 points from Brandon Horvath, 17 from Justin Bean and a team-high 19 points from Rylan Jones.
Jones is quickly becoming a difference-maker for the Aggies early in the season, scoring 21 points in Thursday’s matchup and leading the team in scoring today. Jones also dished out four assists and had two steals.
Bean ended his streak of three straight double-doubles in today’s matchup but still finished the game with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
“Obviously a great win for us,” Head Coach Ryan Odom said. “We felt like we beat an excellent New Mexico State team. Wasn’t their day today obviously, but I think our team had a lot to do with that. (Jones) was tremendous again and controlled the game in a lot of ways certainly from an offensive perspective and a defensive perspective.
A big part of the Aggies victory this afternoon was their ability to make the 3-point shot.
A trait that hasn’t been as prevalent as they would like through the early season, the Aggies broke out today, shooting 48% from 3-point range for a total of 42 points.
USU’s continued efforts to get the ball into the paint have continued to pay off. New Mexico State opened the game with a two-three zone and quickly adapted after Utah State’s ball movement continuously broke the zone.
Utah State’s inside-out approach is largely what led to getting open three-point looks and shooting such a high percentage from long distance.
The Aggies of Logan found themselves in a 7-7 tie early in the game and took control from there, going on a 13-0 run to take the lead. USU proved to be too much for the opposing Aggies throughout the game, taking a 41-16 lead into the break. Utah State would lead by as much as 40 during the game.
After a double-overtime marathon win during Thursday’s matchup vs. Penn, Utah State took advantage of some much-needed rest for their starters during today’s game. Bean led the team in 33 minutes played, which was his lowest playing time for the season.
Bean was not the only one to see some much-needed diminished minutes, as coach Ryan Odom took out all of his starters with just over five minutes remaining.
Playing in these tournament games early in the season could be very beneficial for the Aggies come the end of the season and the conference tournament. Gaining experience playing back-to-back days on short rest provides valuable experience that teams can’t gain any other way.
With today’s win, Utah State advances to the Myrtle Beach Invitational Championship Game on Sunday at 1:00 P.M. MT and awaits the winner of Oklahoma and Indiana State.