USU MBB: Akin, Aggies conquer Bulldogs in Central Valley
FRESNO, Calif. — Utah State Men’s Basketball blew out Fresno State on the road 70-53 on Saturday night. With the win, Utah State ends a streak of three straight losses in away games, while collecting its second road conference win of the season.
“Felt like it was a great performance all around,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “It’s hard to get to 70 in this building.”
Forward Dan Akin led the way for Utah State with 23 points, which is his season-high, passing 21 points at San Deigo.
“Dan was tremendous today,” Odom said. “He’s been that way recently. He’s been playing great for us and we certainly need him to do that. He’s a tough guard out there in terms of his athleticism.”
Akin shot 80% from the field and hit his first career 3-pointer off the backboard in the final four minutes.
“Shout out my teammates for finding me when I was in good spots to finish,” Akin said. “I knew how to be aggressive.”
Akin also excelled defensively, where he blocked three shots — including two attempted 3-pointers — and grabbed five rebounds. His ability to switch on every position from center to guard is an important aspect of the Aggies’ defensive strategy, according to Odom.
The Aggies played one of their better defensive games this season, allowing a season-low point total for an opponent, one point less than the 54 the Bulldogs scored in Logan earlier this season. The effect of USU’s defense was especially clear in the second half as Fresno State shot a mere 28.6% from the field.
Offensively, guard Steven Ashworth put in 14 points and dished out six assists, while guard Sean Bairstow and forward Taylor Funk added nine points each.
In the first 10 minutes, the Aggies and Bulldogs stayed neck-and-neck as Fresno State struggled to hit shots and USU turned the ball over six times. Then, the Bulldogs launched an 8-0 run to go from down 16-11 to up 19-16 with just under eight minutes until halftime.
Akin responded with a 7-0 run of his own, followed by a couple of free throws from Funk to put the Aggies back up 24-19 with five minutes left in the half. After trading a few 3-pointers, USU went into the locker room up 34-28.
In the second half, Utah State picked up where they left off by putting up a quick five points to push the USU lead to double-digits 39-28. Starting the second half well was part of the game plan per Akin.
“Coming off of last game, we knew we had to have better starts to our halves,” Akin said. “That was a big emphasis the last couple of days.”
It worked well for the Aggies who would sustain a lead of at least eight points the rest of the game. Midway through the second half, the Aggies went on an 8-1 run powered by eight-straight points in the paint from Akin and center Trevin Dorius. Later on, USU would take advantage of stops to go up by as much as 21 in the final minutes.
With the victory, USU improves to 17-5, 6-3 in conference play. The Aggies return home to face No. 25 New Mexico at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.
Featured image by Sam Warner from the Wyoming game.