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The Utah State Aggies suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday at the hands of the Mississippi State Bulldogs after starting the season 3-0. They are looking to rebound as they end their quick 2-game road trip before heading home by taking on the UC Davis Aggies at 8 p.m. MT.
For Utah State, even though they lost against the Bulldogs last game, they got off to a much better start than in their previous three games. They actually ended the first half shooting 50 percent from three-point range and went into the half with the lead for the first time all season. Darius Perkins and Chris Smith lead the way for USU in that game with 14 points apiece.
UC Davis has also had some close starts to begin the season as well, squeaking out wins against Eastern Illinois (63-61) and Furman (58-55). In their last game, senior Corey Hawkins lead the team in points with 21 on 8-of-14 shooting. He also collected six rebounds and had four assists. This is the first time since the 1999-2000 season that UC Davis has begun a season 3-0. This will be the first of two games they play against teams from Utah as they will host Utah Valley the following game on Saturday.
One of the biggest keys for Utah State, if they want to come away with a win, is to win the battle on the boards. They were out rebounded by the Bulldogs, 38-21, which led to 14 second chance points. The other key is getting off to fast starts. The team got off to a fast start in the last game, which put pressure on Mississippi State to play catch-up. If Utah State can keep the pressure on and get off to another fast start, they stand a good chance of leaving with a win.