Aggies defeat Eastern Oregon with strong defensive effort
Utah State men’s basketball defeated Eastern Oregon 84-57 on Friday. The Aggies held Eastern Oregon to 34 percent shooting and forced 21 turnovers in the game.
Utah State led the entire game, mostly due to its strong defensive play. The Aggies got off to a slow start offensively, shooting just 16 percent from 3-point range in the first half but forced Eastern Oregon to just seven percent from 3-point range. Utah State led at the break 46-26.
Redshirt freshman Justin Bean said the eight-day break between games was hard for the team to get back into its rhythm early in the game.
“We were a little rusty, a little shaky, just not sharp enough,” Bean said. “We paid for it a little bit. I think tonight was a good wake-up call for us to get back in the flow of things.”
USU’s Justin Bean goes up for a dunk against Eastern Oregon on Fri., Dec. 28. (Megan Nielsen).
The Aggies finished the game scoring 27 points off of Eastern Oregon turnovers. The Mountaineers forced only 13 Utah State turnovers and scored 13 points from them.
Head coach Craig Smith said changing the team’s defense during the game helped them force turnovers and get out of its stagnant offense.
“Zones get you standing a lot sometimes,” Smith said. “We were certainly standing early. We gave up seven offensive rebounds in the first half… We started pressing to get on the attack and I thought that really helped.”
USU head coach Craig Smith instructs his team from the sideline (Megan Nielsen).
Smith said he has some challenges moving forward to get his team ready for conference play.
“I know there’s some things we need to do with a couple guys to help them,” Smith said. “I’d like to think we will be able to establish some things, but it also might be a thing where depending on who we’re playing, and where they’re weak at, that’s where you try to expose some things.”
Smith said the coaching staff needs to find ways to help out junior Sam Merrill get easier shots during games.
USU point guard Abel Porter Jr. brings the ball down the court against Eastern Oregon (Megan Nielsen).
“I think we need to fine-tune some ways to help him get more freebies,” Smith said.
Bean said the team is ready for the challenges the Aggies face coming up in conference play.
“I think Nevada will be a great challenge for us,” Bean said, “but we are definitely ready for it.”
Utah State is now 10-3 on the season, the best start in school history under a first-year head coach. The Aggies next game is at No. 6 Nevada on Jan. 2 at 9 p.m. in the Lawlor Events Center.