Men’s basketball to take on Air Force
The Utah State men’s basketball team is set to host Mountain West rival Air Force Academy Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Aggies are currently 9-7 for the year and 2-2 in conference play. The Falcons sit at 8-7, and 1-3 in Mountain West competition.
“Hopefully we can keep getting better because we have some areas of the game we have to get better,” said coach Stew Morrill earlier in the season. “If we’re going to continue to have chances to win, specifically rebounding and our offensive execution is sporadic.”
Utah State will come into the game on a two-game losing streak after falling to New Mexico at home on Saturday. In the New Mexico game USU was out-rebounded by 14. The team only averages 31 rebounds per game, No. 300 in the nation.
“There is no question that we’ve got to get better,” Morrill said. “Obviously our rebounding stats are alarming and jump out at you and can cause you, as they have done us, to lose games. Hopefully, all five guys on the court are understanding that it is a big, big thing for us.”
Utah State leads the overall series with Air Force 10-3 and has never been defeated by the Falcons in the Spectrum.The Falcons are averaging 70.3 points per game to their opponents 63.1, while the Aggies average 65.1 to their opponents 63.1.
The Aggies are being led offensively by sophomore wing Jalen Moore, who is averaging 15.7 points per game. Moore is closely followed by redshirt freshman forward David Collette who adds 12.9 points per game.
Collette also leads the team on defense with 27 blocks and 15 steals for the the season. The freshman averages 1.75 offensive rebounds and 3.18 defensive rebounds a game. Moore leads the team in defensive rebounds overall for the season with 94 averaging 5.87 per game.
Air force is currently led in scoring by senior guard Max Yon with 15.3 points per game, scoring in double digits in the last five Air Force contests.
The Falcons are averaging 32.4 rebounds per game and are led by senior forward Kamryn Williams in steals with 17 on the season and in blocks by junior center Zack Moer with 10.
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Twitter: @missemilymduke