USU MBB: Seiko, SDSU sink Aggies
SAN DIEGO — Utah State Men’s basketball dropped their third consecutive conference road game falling to San Diego State 85-75, moving the Aggies to 5-3 in conference play and 16-5 on the season.
As they have grown to expect in conference road games this season, the Aggies were going to be put to the test. In their previous two road games, the Aggies were outscored by 23 points at Boise State before losing by 15 to Nevada. Early in the first half at San Diego State, it looked like it was going to be another blowout.
In the first 14 minutes of the half, the Aztecs would go on an 18-0 run that would hold the Aggies at 11 points for nearly seven minutes before junior guard Max Shulga connected on a 3-pointer. The Aggies would get a little spark before the half, trimming the lead from 20 down to just 11, but couldn’t do much more.
The three-point defense for the Aggies would surrender its seventh triple of the first half to go down 15 at halftime and would need a major turnaround to make it competitive in the second half.
They allowed the Aztecs to shoot 12-for-22 from the arc throughout the game and seven of them came from one player. San Diego State guard Adam Seiko torched the Aggies for 25 points on seven made threes which proved costly for the Aggies.
“We let Seiko open several times and that wasn’t the game plan for us to leave their best shooter wide-open from three,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “Six (3-pointers) in the first half is way too many.”
In half number 2, there was some resilience for Utah State, which is uncharacteristic given the Aggies’ second-half struggles this season.
“We had to fight,” Odom said. “Our guys did not intend to be down that much early in the game, but our guys got it to a point where they had to get to a point on how to finish that out. We have to be in the game in the beginning and have to believe we can be in the game in the beginning.”
The Aggies would stay within 13 points for most of the half before getting the lead down to just nine with seven minutes to go, then six points with three minutes to go, trailing 74-68.
But USU’s three-point defense surrendered again. After two made free throws by the Aztecs and a turnover by Utah State, SDSU guard Lamont Butler would hit a wide-open three to put the Aggies down 11 with 2:15 to go, abruptly ending the game.
“We can’t be tentative to start games versus quality competition like this. There were some plays that hurt your confidence and that definitely happened,” Odom said. “You have to believe that you belong in the game the second it starts.”
Despite the loss, there were some positives to come out of the game.
The Aztecs average over eight steals per contest and force 14.7 turnovers a game, but tonight the Aggies only had 10 turnovers with the Aztecs only stealing the ball six times.
In addition to taking better care of the rock, Utah State got five steals of their own with three of them coming from forward Taylor Funk.
Funk had an excellent game both from the arc and the paint. He finished with a team-high 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting paired with four rebounds.
“Proud of the guys for keeping their heads up and trying to get their thoughts right,” Funk said. “They battled the whole game and tried to get back to Aggie basketball.”
Funk has led the Aggies in scoring in six of their seven conference games, averaging 16.7 points, setting him up as a possible player-of-the-year candidate in the Mountain West.
At the end of the first half, Funk sparked an Aggie run, scoring at will in the paint on consecutive plays.
“I saw some lanes and had to get around a big guy and make some decisions,” Funk said. “It was just about making the right play.”
Even though it was another disappointing road loss to a top team in the conference, the Aggies do have something to look forward to as they have no more road games at the top four teams in the Mountain West standings: San Diego State, Boise State, Nevada and New Mexico. In turn, the Aggies will face all four of those teams at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum with No. 25 New Mexico on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
Another storyline of this game was the struggles of guard Steven Ashworth. The junior sharpshooter shot just 3-for-10 from the field and 2-for-7 from the arc, scoring just eight points, while adding a respectable seven assists. The Aztecs took advantage of size mismatches on Ashworth defensively, which led to extensive scoring from the arc.
The Aggies will head to Fresno State to complete their short two-game road trip to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.
Featured image by Sam Warner from the Wyoming game.