Taylor Funk’s historic 32 points just part of ‘focusing on the task at hand’
LAS VEGAS — When the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball All-Conference Teams came out earlier this week, Utah State forward Taylor Funk was left out. He didn’t even pick up an honorable mention, except in an unofficial media poll.
“They’re cool rewards, for sure, but we didn’t get them, but it’s not going to stop us,” Funk said.
Instead of talking about some chip on his shoulder, Funk looked at the big picture during the post-game conference after the Aggies’ 91-76 win over New Mexico in the quarter-final round of the Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship.
“I think any of us could have gotten it,” Funk said. “It’s not really one guy that really stands out on this team where it’s that’s the guy you’ve got to guard. You’ve got to guard all of us.”
To him what’s really important is the goals he set with his teammates at the start of the season, which seem to be about creating a “legacy,” something Utah State has talked about all season.
“I think really anyone could have been first, second or third team,” Funk said. “We didn’t get it, but that’s fine. You know, we talked about our goals in the summer. The first week we all get together, obviously me and Dan (Akin), newcomers, and we made our goals, and we’re not going to stop until we reach those.”
And when everything was set and done inside the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday night, not one person in the building didn’t know who Taylor Funk was. He had scored 32 points — a Utah State record for a single-game total in the Mountain West tournament. It’s also the most points an Aggie has scored in the postseason since Marvin Roberts scored 33 points on UCLA in the Elite Eight of the 1970 NCAA Tournament.
“I think Taylor did obviously, from the performance you saw today, he should have been an all-conference player,” Akin said after the game. “I guess he obviously showed everyone that he is that guy.”
When New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino was asked about how his team defended Funk he said they didn’t really have any “other great options” to defend him besides forward Josiah Allick.
“None of it worked, but, you know, he — man, he is a great shooter,” Pitino said. “We needed to make him more uncomfortable, but that certainly was not the case at the beginning.”
Funk scored the Aggies’ first 16 points, missing just the first shot he took and then making his next five shots.
Lobo guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. agreed with his coach.
“When dudes (aren’t) uncomfortable against us they’re going to have nice nights like Taylor Funk had,” Mashburn said. “Six of 10 from three, which is tremendous.”
Utah State head coach Ryan Odom praised Funk’s “blazing hot start” because “there are a lot of nerves in these games.”
“When you are in the situation that a lot of us are in right now, making a push and trying to make the dance, there’s a lot of pressure,” Odom said. “We tried to remove that from our guys as much as we could over the last couple of weeks and just focus on the task at hand. Tomorrow will be no different. It’s not about the NCAA tournament. It’s about doing our best every single day. Taylor and his teammates did a great job today in this particular game of focusing on the task at hand.”
Funk kept it up throughout the night shooting 10-for-16 from the field including six made 3-pointers. He also hit six of seven free throws.
Funk returns to action at 10 p.m. MST to take on Boise State in the semi-final round. The game will be broadcast on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.
Featured image by Heidi Bingham.