USU MBB: Aggies, raucous Spectrum send Rebels packing
LOGAN — Utah State Men’s Basketball defeated UNLV 75-71 and improved to 15-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
After a second-half collapse to Nevada on Jan. 13, Utah State needed a turnaround. They welcomed UNLV to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum expecting a dogfight. 40 minutes of pure basketball later, a dogfight doesn’t begin to describe what happened in Logan.
In front of a reported crowd number of 7,611 — which felt more like 8500 — Utah State needed to get through UNLV who had lost three games by a combined six points and they would have to do it without two of their key pieces. Senior guard Rylan Jones, who suffered an undisclosed injury against Boise State, and forward Zee Hamoda who was out for tonight’s game with an illness.
The first half started out in favor of the Aggies, as they quickly jumped to a 12-4 lead behind center Trevin Dorius, who had nine of his 10 points in the first three and half minutes of the game, attacking the small-ball lineup of the Rebels.
“Trevin attacking the switches early in the game and posting up was a big factor for us to get some easy baskets,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “Trevin was great.”
The Aggies and Rebels would trade baskets back and forth until forward Taylor Funk decided to take over.
He hit a transition 3-pointer to tie the game 32-32 with just over four minutes to go in the half.
26 seconds later, Funk had a defender in his face and, following a shot fake, sunk another triple to put the Aggies up three.
25 seconds later, Funk hit yet another trey, this time from the coach’s box, for his third consecutive 3-pointer, and all of a sudden the Aggies led by six.
Taylor Funk from another zip code‼️🔥
⚡️ @taylor_swishh #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/5CPxsLR2oj
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 18, 2023
“It was like a video game out there. So much fun watching him shoot it like it was a workout,” guard Steven Ashworth said. “He was hitting and it was huge for us in the first half to get us started.”
That wasn’t all for Funk in the first half. He would start a breakaway and finish with a dunk then cap off the half with a three with five seconds to go, pushing the Aggies to a 46-37 lead heading into the half.
Funk finished the half with 20 points, 7-9 from the field while shooting 6-8 from deep. Funk’s six three-pointers ties for second in his career for 3-pointers made in a game.
The second half was like what Utah State fans have seen before.
In just over three minutes, the Rebels sparked an 8-0 run to trim the Aggie lead from nine to one — in what seemed like seconds — ultimately taking the lead late in the half at 69-68.
But that is where the crowd got involved — and not just the student section.
“It’s something super special, I always know the HURD will be in that corner,” Ashworth said. “The question is what is the community going to bring and they have been bringing it this year. Cache Valley came in clutch.”
The fans’ cheers and boos cranked up the volume in the Spectrum, with some fans reporting decibel levels over 100 recorded on their watches.
One of the heroes they were pushing on was Ashworth who hit a three to put the Aggies up two with just one minute to go.
He finished the game with 14 points on 5-for-14 shooting and 3-for-10 from deep while tying his career-high in assists with nine.
On the ensuing drive, forward Dan Akin put his body on the line and drew a charge to allow the Aggies to get the ball back to put the game away.
Utah State called a timeout with two seconds left on the shot clock to run an inbounds play to potentially seal the game with just 25 seconds left. They got a wide-open look from guard Sean Bairstow who sunk the 15-foot shot to put the Aggies up four.
After two free throws made by both teams, the Aggies would emerge victorious by a four-point margin.
So what allowed the Rebels to get back into the game and keep it close?
Utah State would surrender 12 of its 21 total turnovers in the second half, eight of which came in the first seven minutes of the half.
The Rebels scored 27 points off the Aggies’ turnovers while USU only scored 16.
Despite having 21 total turnovers, the Aggies dished out 21 assists on 24 shots to compensate.
“We had enough plays where the ball was moving and they were chasing so we were able to get quality looks,” Odom said.
It was a difficult game for guard Max Shulga who had five turnovers for the Aggies, but Odom voiced his support for him and his ability to be confident in his game.
“He is going to continue to grow, not only as a basketball player but (with) the thinking of the game. We are constantly working on him with his intensity and level of focus,” Odom said. “I thought he did a great job of answering every time I brought him to the sideline and put him back in.”
Shulga converted on the final free throws of the game to put UNLV out of reach and also assisted Bairstow for the dagger giving the Aggies the win.
Shulga finished with nine points, with six of them coming from the stripe, paired with five assists and four boards.
Funk didn’t score in the second half and finished the game with six turnovers but dropped five assists, grabbed six boards and had two blocks in his performance.
A surprising stat to the game was the bench point differential. Utah State, who usually has great bench play, only saw 13 bench points tonight to the Rebels’ 38.
The Aggies also held the Rebels leading scorer EJ Harkless to just two points, despite the Oklahoma transfer averaging 17 per game.
The Aggies will turn to face 12-7 San Jose State on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 4 p.m. in the Spectrum. The Spartans defeated the Rebels earlier this season 75-72 and are 3-3 in conference play.
The game will be broadcast on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.
Featured image by Sam Warner from the Wyoming game.