Aggies get quacked, duck out of NIT
LOGAN – With 4:41 remaining in the first half of Tuesday night’s NIT matchup between Utah State and Oregon, the Aggies went on an 11-0 run and carried a nine-point lead. From that point forward, the Ducks outscored the home team 60-40 to run away with an 83-72 victory.
“I guess this is officially the end. So hard to say that,” forward Brandon Horvath said after the game. “I left it all out there today, left it all out there all season. Wish we would have won, obviously, but it is what it is.”
Oregon played the game without their leading scorer Will Richardson, who averages just over 14 points per game. In his absence, the Ducks were led by De’Vion Harmon and Jacob Young.
Harmon led the team with 19 points while Young put up 17 of his own. The athleticism of Oregon’s guard duo gave the Aggies fits all night. The speed and length of the Duck’s roster seemed nearly un-guardable in the second half.
“They’re really good at getting to their strong hand,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “You really have to fill it up off those guys in order to not allow them to break the free throw line, and they got down there way too many times.”
Three scorers for Utah State found themselves in double-digits at night’s end, led by Steven Ashworth who tallied 20 points on the night. Sean Bairstow and Horvath, with 12 and 15 points, were the other two Aggies to score double figures.
One team was without their leading scorer and the other teams struggled to get going all night. Justin Bean had 9 points for the Aggies on just 2-12 shooting. For the typically sharpshooting Bean, Tuesday night’s matchup was a rare anomaly.
“I think we’re at our best when we’re sharing the ball and our spacings really good. We didn’t really have that tonight,” Bean said. “I think we should have done just better job attacking and getting in the lane. When we get in there, we sometimes try to force it over their length, and that’s never a good recipe for success.”
The size of Oregon underneath quickly became an issue for the Aggies. The Ducks dominated the battle in the paint, scoring 48 points down low compared to USU’s 28. In addition, Oregon blocked six shots from the smaller Aggie shooters.
Utah State struggled out of the gate, and Oregon started the game on a 10-2 run. UO played a primarily 2-3 zone on defense that caused the Aggies to struggle to find good shots.
With the Aggies down eight, Ashworth checked in and proceeded to knock down three triples on three straight possessions to give his team the lead.
The teams traded baskets for nearly ten minutes before USU’s 11-0 run. After that point the Ducks took control, and it all began to unravel for the Aggies and the 7,023 faithful cheering them on.
With tonight’s loss, Utah State has now dropped nine straight NIT games dating back to the team’s last win in 1960.
The biggest question mark for this team heading into the offseason is whether Bean will use his extra year of eligibility to return to Logan next fall.
“There’s a lot of important conversations I’ve got to have, in the next coming weeks and months. I came here as a walk-on, and you don’t see many places that take guys like me in and support you and love you,” Bean said somewhat emotionally after the game. “I have no words to say just how much I appreciate Aggie nation.”