After a close loss at home against BYU on Saturday the Aggies rebounded (get it?) against College of Idaho on Tuesday night. Utah State outscored College of Idaho in both halves, 44-33 in the first half and 46-31 in the second half, to cruise to a 94-60 victory.
Justin Bean was the leading scorer for Utah State with 21 points on 6-7 of shooting (85%) and seven rebounds (four defensive, three offensive) in addition to three steals and a personal foul. Rollie Worster and Sean Bairstow both scored 11 points on 3-8 (1-2 from three) of shooting and 4-9 (2-4 from three) on shooting respectively. Worster also had four rebounds (two defensive, two offensive) and an assist, three steals, and three turnovers. Bairstow had three defensive rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two turnovers. Neemias Queta scored 8 points on 4-6 of shooting (66%) and also posted eight rebounds (six defensive, two offensive), three assists, one steal, and two turnovers. Brock Miller registered two points of of 1-7 of shooting and posted a rebound.
Off the bench, Steven Ashworth was Utah State’s leading scorer with 15 points (4-7 shooting; 1-3 from three) and was 6-9 from the free throw line. He had two defensive rebounds, an offensive rebound, seven assists, two steals, two turnovers, and four fouls. Forward Alphonso Anderson and Center Trevin Dorius each had nine points on 3-6 shooting and 4-5 shooting respectively. Anderson had three defensive rebounds, two offensive rebounds, two assists, and two turnovers. Dorius had three defensive rebounds, an offensive rebound, and two blocks.
Utah State shot 30-58 (51.7%) as a team compared to the College of Idaho’s 22-57 (38.6%) but the Aggies still struggled from three, going 4-12 on shooting (33.3%). College of Idaho was 8-9 on free throws (88.9%) while Utah State was 26-30 (86.7%). The Aggies outrebounded the College of Idaho 40 to 24 and also had more assists with a 18-13 advantage. Utah State had 12 steals as a team and three blocks and only gave 13 turnovers compared to College of Idaho’s 18. The College of Idaho also committed 21 fouls compared to the Aggies 13.
Utah State played the most disciplined game they have played this season. In the past games, Utah State has been very poor when shooting the basketball, even from the free throw line. The Aggies have also had problems in past games with allowing opponents to shoot at a higher percentage. The Utah State team that played against the College of Idaho was the team that everyone expected to see in the preseason. They played a good game getting their second win of the season and the Aggies now sit at 2-3. Weber State is up next for Utah State and the Aggies will need to have continued success as they move into conference play on December 21st.