Aggie men snap losing streak, tame the Lobos
LOGAN – The last time Utah State met New Mexico the Aggies trailed by 15 points at halftime. They won the game, but it required a second-half comeback and overtime victory. On Tuesday night, the game was never in doubt.
The Aggies held New Mexico to just 36% shooting from the field on their way to an 81-56 victory. The win breaks a four-game losing streak.
“The theme of this game for us was we’ve got to defend. We need our defense back, we need our defense to lead us to a victory,” head coach Ryan Odom said after the game. “I think overall our guys did a nice job of guarding the rim a little bit better than we had been over the last several games, even prior to that little losing streak.”
Utah State had a defensive showing tonight, allowing just 56 points, and holding the Lobos second-leading scorer, Jalen House, to just two points on 1 for 8 shooting.
Utah State jumped out to a 20-7 lead, making their first eight shot attempts. The Aggies kept the pressure on and went to the locker room with a 17-point halftime lead. In the first half, New Mexico tallied just 21 points. Unlike the last matchup, the game wouldn’t get any closer in the second half. The Aggies scored 42 points in the second period to cap off a 25-point victory.
Justin Bean led the way for the Aggies with another double-double, his 17th of the season. Bean notched 21 points and 10 rebounds in a team-leading 32 minutes of play.
In addition to Bean’s strong game, senior captain Brock Miller made his return to the floor for the first time since Dec 29, 2021. The loudest point of the night came with 14:13 remaining in the second half when forward Brandon Horvath fired the ball to the corner where Miller collected, fired and drilled a three.
It has been 55 days since we last said, IT’S MILLER TIME 🔥
⚡️ @Bsmoov_22 #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/m2suZcbRBJ
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 23, 2022
A timeout was called shortly after by New Mexico, and Miller turned to the student section and pumped his hands in the air while they chanted ‘Mr. Clean’ back at him.
“I’m really humbled with the opportunity that I’ve been given to play, and when it’s taken away from you a little bit for bad health, you realize how great it is to be out there,” Miller said after the game. “It felt really good to be back out with the team and just to be part of it.”
Even though Miller hasn’t played for nearly two months, his presence and leadership within the team has not been lost.
“He just provides an intensity, a leadership that is so important for any team, and he means a ton to us,” coach Odom said on Miller. “I think he saw the reaction of all his teammates and coaches, how excited everybody was just to see him get back in there. Just his presence was so important.”
Tonight, Utah State totaled 23 assists, their most in a game since their February 3 matchup with San Jose State. On the season the Aggies are now 12-0 when they have more than 20 assists in a game.
“I thought our spacing was really good tonight, and it hasn’t been the last few games,” Bean said postgame. “We watched a lot of film on that. We had to really lock into that, and not get careless with our spacing and just kind of float around the perimeter.”
Utah State will finish off their home schedule with a senior night matchup against Colorado State on Saturday night in the Spectrum.