USU MBB: Aggies fall short to conference-leading Aztecs
LOGAN — Utah State Men’s Basketball fell short in a gritty, physical matchup with No. 25 San Diego State 63-61. The Aztecs keep the top spot in the Mountain West with their victory and pick up another Quadrant 1 win while USU still searches for its first.
“I’m proud of the guys and proud of the effort that they put in to give ourselves a chance,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “The defensive intensity and effort in that second half was really impressive. Ton of plays throughout that gave us a fighting chance.”
With 10 seconds remaining, Utah State had its shot to win it. Down 62-61, guard Max Shulga got the ball on an inbound pass from the baseline. He tried to drive then stepped back and fired the would-be game-winning shot but it rimmed out. The Aztecs secured the board and after hitting a free throw, SDSU had done enough to win in the Spectrum by two.
“I think there’s a lot to pull away and to learn. The first being that we are one of the top teams in the Mountain West,” guard Steven Ashworth said. “We’re right there with everybody. We wish that we could’ve had a different outcome to prove a little more tonight.”
To even get a chance at winning, the Aggies had gone on a 9-0 run over the last five minutes — aided by a big second-chance bucket from forward Taylor Funk, as well as another offensive rebound and two steals. Guard Steven Ashworth admired Funk’s and his other teammates’ efforts down the stretch.
“It shows that they’re committed to winning,” Ashworth said. ”It showed that they knew what it took to get the victory and we put ourselves in that position with that run and it was super fun to see them diving on the floor and getting loose balls. So that’s what we hope the full 40 minutes will be like moving forward.”
But it didn’t seem like things would get that tight after the first half.
To start the game, Utah State led for the first seven minutes behind a balanced attack with three triples. That’s when the Aztecs kicked it to high gear, launching a 14-0 run that lasted just over two minutes. Suddenly, the Aggies went from leading by five to down 20-13.
Then chaos erupted during a media timeout. While walking back to the huddle, Funk had an altercation with Aztec guard Darrion Trammell. Funk was given a technical foul during the incident. Odom rushed to the area, trying to split things up, but then disputed the technical call and subsequently received a tech as well. Things got heated as Odom was separated from a referee who had turned to face Odom’s complaint and stepped forward into Odom.
During that, players and personnel on both teams illegally left the bench leading to the ejections of Utah State’s assistant coach Matt Henry and players Connor Odom and Conner Gillis, and San Diego State’s Trammell. After the hullabaloo, Aztec guard Matt Bradley made one of two allotted technical shots.
To end the half, SDSU added to their lead with an 11-3 run, making the score 44-28 in favor of the Aztecs.
“The first half was obviously disjointed in a lot of ways for us,” Odom said. “Not as much for San Diego State. They played well. Their defense really impacted us in a negative way.”
Overall defensively for Utah State, after the 14-0 Aztec run, the Aggies tightened it up. They held SDSU to just 19 second-half points and sent them to the line 13 times, including six technical shots.
“We feel very fortunate to come in here and get a win,” San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher said. “If you told me we were only going to score 19 points in the second half, I’d say we were going to walk out with an L.”
On offense for USU, Ashworth led the team with 18 points on 11 shots. He totaled six assists and five rebounds on the night. Funk backed him up with 11 points and nine rebounds while swatting away three Aztec shots.
With the loss, Utah State falls to 19-6 on the season and 8-4 in Mountain West play. The Aggies head to San Jose, California for their next game against San Jose State on Saturday at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.
Featured image by Heidi Bingham.