After a 13 point win over Northern Colorado, Utah State opened up conference play with a blowout victory over San Jose State in a 107-62 win.
Utah State scored 47 points in the first half, holding the Spartans to 26, and scored 60 in the second half, holding San Jose State to 36 points. Justin Bean was the leading scorer for Utah State with 16 points on 8-10 of shooting. Bean also had 11 rebounds (seven defensive, four offensive) and four assists. Brock Miller had 14 points on 5-9 of shooting and was 4-7 from the three point line. He had one rebound and one assist. Marco Anthony also scored in the double digits, scoring 12 points on 5-9 of shooting. Anthony also had four rebounds (two offensive, two defensive) two assists, a steal, and two turnovers.
Quite a few players came off the bench to contribute to the performance as well. Alphonso Anderson, Trevin Dorius, Zahar Vedischev, Max Shulga, Steven Ashworth, and Sean Bairstow all scored more than five points. Anderson scored nine points (4-11 shooting), Dorius scored eight points (4-7 shooting), Vedischev scored eight points (3-6 shooting; 2-4 from the free throw line), Shulga had six points (2-6 shooting, 2-4 from the three point line), Ashworth scored 10 points (3-6 shooting, 2-5 from three) and Bairstow had seven points on 3-4 shooting and he hit a three. In addition to the points that he scored, Trevin Dorius also had 10 rebounds (five offensive, five defensive) and three steals.
Utah State shot 43-83 overall (51.8%), 11-31 from three (35.5%), while San Jose State shot 23-70 (32.9%), 6-26 from three (23.1%). San Jose State shot only 10-21 from the free throw line (47.6%) and Utah State shot 10-15 (66.7%). The Spartans were also heavily outrebounded by the Aggies as Utah State had 59 rebounds and San Jose State had 36. The Spartans only managed nine assists while the Aggies had 27 assists. In terms of turnovers, two two teams were pretty equal with San Jose State having 13 turnovers and Utah State having nine, however the Spartans had an advantage in fouls. San Jose State committed 13 fouls while Utah State committed 22.
This was a great performance by Utah State because of they way that they were able to rebound, the number of assists they were able to get, and a shooting percentage that was close to 20% better than San Jose States. There was a big difference in numbers in these three categories which led to the 45 point victory. This was by far the most complete game that Utah State has played so far this season. The Aggies are now 4-3 overall, 1-0 in conference, and will get another chance to play San Jose State on December 23rd before they head to play a series in Colorado Springs against Air Force on December 31st and January 2nd. Then the Aggies should get a challenge in New Mexico on January 7th and January 9th.