USU MBB: Ags erase 21-point deficit for comeback win
LOGAN — Utah State Men’s Basketball players looked up to the scoreboard 10 minutes into their conference game against Nevada and found themselves down 30-9. Twenty minutes of game time later, the Aggies initiated the only lead change of the game on a 3-pointer from guard Steven Ashworth then held on to beat the Wolf Pack 75-66 on Saturday night.
“That game to me, and to our team, was all about composure. It was all about playing with heart and grit. I think that’s what you saw,” USU head coach Ryan Odom said. “When you’re able to get a win like this and come back from that kind of margin, it says a lot about the character and the toughness that’s in our locker room.”
USU’s composure showed itself after a blazing start for Nevada center Will Baker. He dug the Aggies into a hole to begin the game when he buried five 3-pointers on the Wolf Pack’s first five possessions.
“We knew that Baker could shoot well, but I guess, we didn’t know he was going to shoot that well to start the game,” guard Steven Ashworth said.
Baker totaled 22 points in the first five minutes of the game to give Nevada an 18-point lead.
“I’ve coached a long time as an assistant and head coach, I’ve never seen anything like that,” Odom said. “Credit to him, obviously he’s got to make the shots and there were quite a few of them that were guarded quite well from our perspective and he just knocked them down.”
After a couple more tough minutes for the Aggies, hitting just two shots in four minutes, the Wolf Pack built their biggest lead of the game, 30-9, midway through the first half.
That’s when the Aggies started to slow things down and get back into the game.
“Knowing that we just needed to keep going possession by possession by possession was really our message,” Ashworth said.
By following that plan, Utah State went on a 10-0 run to cut the Wolf Pack lead to 11 points. Nevada responded with a couple of baskets in the final minutes of the first half to go to the locker room up 47-32.
At halftime, the stat differentials were telling. Nevada had shot a blazing 62% from the field, 7-% from 3-point range, while USU had put up a relatively average 45% shooting mark.
Starting the second half, USU knew they had to step up defensively and the message was simple.
“It was pretty much just trying to make them take tough shots over and over again,” guard RJ Eytle-Rock said. “We knew they started off hot, but we knew they couldn’t withstand it the whole game.”
And offensively, the Aggies knew they didn’t have time on their side.
“Start of the second half, we said we just need to punch first, just answer right away and not wait on the back foot as we were down,” Eytle-Rock said. “We didn’t have time to ease back into the second half.”
On the first possession of the second half, guard Max Shulga delivered that first punch on a 3-pointer which kickstarted a 10-0 run where the Aggies forced the Wolf Pack to put up contested shots for misses while the Aggies scored on fast breaks and from the charity stripe.
Things slowed down from there as Utah State methodically chipped away the Wolf Pack lead to two points, 59-57, with 10 minutes left in the game. That’s when Ashworth buried a pull-up 3-pointer to give USU their first lead of the game 60-59.
Ashworth credited the comeback to his team’s composure.
“I think a lot of it was just our composure over a long stretch of time,” Ashworth said. “We knew that if we could flip the script we would put the pressure on them. We felt it early, and I’d much rather feel the pressure early than feel the pressure late. And so, I think we felt that momentum building.”
Nevada would go on to tie the game at 64 on a fast-break jumper with a little under four minutes remaining, but after a Shulga free throw and a basket from forward Taylor Funk, Nevada couldn’t handle the pressure. The Wolf Pack didn’t score again until they were down seven and by that point, they had to foul which allowed Ashworth to ice the game hitting his last eight free throws in a row to secure the nine-point victory.
“When it kind of came down to those crunch minutes, we were already used to feeling that throughout the whole game which I think gave us the upper hand in the final few minutes,” Ashworth said.
Ashworth also credited the sellout crowd and an announced attendance of 9,157 for helping the Aggies get back in the game.
“The crowd was huge tonight,” Ashworth said. “That’s why you love playing in front of a sellout crowd is because they can help and flip the momentum for you like that.”
Ashworth led the Aggies with 20 points and also dealt out six assists. Four other Aggies finished with double-digit points including Eytle-Rock who hit two big 3-pointers when USU was trimming down Nevada’s lead at the end of the first half.
The night was also special for the legacy of the program as USU retired Jaycee Carroll’s jersey. Carroll is the program’s all-time leading scorer and the leader among other statistical categories including 3-pointers made. Check out this link to learn more about Carroll: http://usustatesman.com/jayceecarroll
With the win, Utah State improves to 21-7 and 10-5 in Mountain West play. The Aggies hit the road for its next two games with the first stop at Wyoming on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.
Featured image by Paige Johnson.