USU MBB: Aggies torch Santa Clara 96-74

LOGAN — It was just over 20 degrees outside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Monday night, but Utah State Men’s Basketball scorched Santa Clara 96-74 to extend their winning streak to three games. 

“A great victory for us,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “Against what we think is a really good Santa Clara team.”

The Aggies led for nearly 35 minutes of game time, including the final 21 minutes of play where USU led by double-digits the entire time. 

The closest the Broncos got to getting back in the game was an 8-2 run midway through the second half that was quashed by back-to-back scores from guard Sean Bairstow. 

“Our key this year: always being able to answer,” forward Taylor Funk said. “This summer, we had a little slogan. It was champions always answer. We want to be champions here.” 

Funk put on a show scoring 22 points, taking a career-high five steals and nabbing 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. It’s Funk’s eighth double-double of his career, but Aggie fans can expect to see more with his new focus on rebounding. 

“Pretty big shoes to fill coming here with Justin Bean,” Funk said. “These coaches really, really encouraged me. They’re telling me I’m more than a shooter and I knew that and they need a rebounder. So I’ve really took that to heart.” 

It was a genuine team effort with every player that played more than three minutes scoring. The Aggies also put up a season-high 25 assists, led by guard Rylan Jones who dished out dimes for alley-oops to forward Dan Akin and center Trevin Dorius. 

“When we find an advantage, the guys are committed to making the next pass,” Odom said. “We’re committed to playing the game in a very unselfish way.”

Jones also found success from beyond the arc, scoring nine points on three 3-pointers. Odom said he’s excited to see Jones’ confidence growing. 

“He just sees the court so well, it’s incredible, like, he sees things that nobody else is seeing out there,” Odom said. “It was great to see him knock down some shots early in the game. That puts a ton of pressure on the defense.”

After dropping 28 points against Bradley, guard Steven Ashworth had another impactful performance with 18 points and four assists. Near the end of the game, Ashworth appeared to suffer a right leg injury during play. He was helped off the by Funk and avoided putting any pressure on his right foot. USU staff later called the injury an ankle sprain. 

“We’ll see kind of how it progresses over the next couple of days,” Odom said. “He’s a tough guy and if he can play, he’ll play. If he can’t then we’re not going to put him in any danger obviously.” 

Defensively, the Aggies limited Santa Clara’s leading scorer Brandin Podziemski to 12 points after he came into the Spectrum averaging 32 points per game. Guard Max Shulga and Ashworth took on the primary role of guarding Pdoziemski.

“The discipline that it takes to guard a guy like that — that can really score — is not easy,” Odom said. “I thought Max was great on him.” 

Other notable performances from the win include Akin’s 13 points and Dorius’ 11 points. 

The Aggies travel to San Diego to take on the Toreros on Thursday night for Utah State’s first road test. The game will be broadcast on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.

Featured image by Elise Gottling from the UVU game.