Bean, USU nab first win of the Odom era
Annapolis — A Second-half surge led Utah State basketball to an 85-74 win over Richmond, the first win of the Ryan Odom era.
After dropping their season opener on Tuesday night to UC Davis, the Aggies came out with a vengeance to take down a tough Richmond team.
Justin Bean led the way for the Aggies with his second straight double-double, coming on 14 rebounds and a career-high 30 points. Bean was also 3-4 from beyond the arc in 39 minutes of action.
Brandon Horvath also had a standout performance in front of his hometown crowd, picking up 18 points and grabbing four rebounds. Bean and Horvath were seemingly everywhere for the Aggies, causing the Spiders trouble all night. The speed, length and height that the duo brings proved too much for Richmond to handle, as they combined for over half of Utah State’s points.
The Spiders entered the locker room with a six-point lead after a deep 3-points attempt fell in at the halftime buzzer. The Aggies came out firing to start the second half and went on a 13-2 run to take the lead, 50-45.
USU and the Richmond would trade baskets throughout the second half, resulting in a 65-65 tie with 5:12 remaining. The Aggies took control from there, going on an 18-3 run that took almost four and a half minutes to close out the game. Bean would deliver the exclamation point on the win with a two-handed slam with 42 seconds remaining.
Richmond had the 3-ball working in the first half, shooting 53% from three and scoring 27 of their 43 first-half points from triples.
Utah State stuck with their game plan down the stretch, continuing to work the ball inside out through Bean and Horvath and limiting the looks for the Spiders. Both paid dividends as the Aggies had 38 points in the paint and held Richmond to just 33% from three in the second half.
Even with the second-half shooting struggles, the Spiders would still score over half their total points from beyond the arch.
Trevin Dorius also played a pivotal role for Utah State, scoring 11 points and snagging four rebounds off the bench. Recovering from a pre-season ankle injury, Dorius could prove to be a difference-maker for the Aggies and their already formidable post-game.
Utah State continues its regular season campaign next Thursday, taking on Penn University in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.