The very successful Utah State football season is now over as the Aggies finished 11-3, however, the basketball season is starting to really heat up and Utah State will be looking to have similar success in their basketball season. As of right now, the Aggies are 9-5 on the season and haven’t played a conference game yet.

Interestingly enough, both the head football coach Blake Anderson and the head basketball coach Ryan Odom have found success in their first year. Odom came in from UMBC and was there from 2016-2021, where he posted a record of 97-60. He was also the head coach of Lenoir-Rhyne, which he led to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II tournament.

Utah State and Boise State were tied for 5th place in the Mountain West Conference, with both teams with records of 9-4 but now Utah State is last place in the conference and the Broncos have taken over first place with Air Force.

Utah State Schedule Results

vs UC Davis, LOSE; 72-69 (0-1)

vs Richmond, (Neutral) WIN; 85-74 (1-1)

vs Pennsylvania, (Neutral) WIN; 87-79 2 overtimes (2-1)

vs New Mexico State, (Neutral) WIN; 85-58 (3-1)

vs Oklahoma, (Neutral) WIN; 73-70 (4-1)

vs UT Arlington, WIN; 80-61 (5-1)

vs Carroll College (MT), WIN; 93-63 (6-1)

vs Saint Mary’s, LOSE; 60-58 (6-2)

at #24 BYU, LOSE; 82-71 (6-3)

vs New Orleans, WIN; 82-50 (7-3)

at Weber State, WIN; 95-80 (8-3)

vs Iowa (Neutral), WIN; 94-75 (8-4)

vs Portland State, WIN; 81-62 (9-4)

at Air Force, LOSE; 49-47 (9-5)

Utah State Basketball Leaders

Senior forward Justin Bean leads three of the five significant categories such as points per game (19.8), rebounds per game (10.4), and steals per game (1.8). Justin Bean has played in all thirteen games and has averaged 33.8 minutes per game this season. He has averaged 2.6 assists per game, 1.8 steals per game, 0.1 blocks per game, 1.6 turnovers per game, and has an overall field goal percentage of 65.2%.

Junior guard Rylan Jones leads the team in assists this season with 5.6 per game and has averaged eight points per game in 13 games. He also also averaged three rebounds per game, is tied with Justin Bean with 1.8 steals per game, 2.4 turnovers per game, and has a shooting percentage of 38.8%.

Senior forward Brandon Horvath leads Utah State in the fifth important category, blocks per game, with 0.4 per game. He has also played in all 13 games this season and has averaged 29.6 minutes in each game. Horvath has averaged 13.1 points per game, 2.6 assists per game, 0.6 steals per game, 2.2 turnovers per game, and has a shooting percentage of 50.8% with a 45.8% shooting percentage from three.

Guard Brock Miller has averaged 27 minutes per game this season and has also averaged 8.8 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game, 1.3 assists per game, 0.2 steals per game, 0.8 turnovers per game, and has averaged a shooting percentage of 41.4% and a three point percentage of 34.2%.

Guard Steven Ashworth has averaged 24.1 minutes per game and has averaged 7.8 points per game, 2.6 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game, 3.3 assists per game, 0.7 steals per game, 0.1 blocks per game, 1.9 turnovers per game, and a shooting percentage of 37.9% and 40% from three.

Guard Sean Bairstow has averaged 17 minutes in six games this season and has put up 7.2 points per game, 1.7 rebounds per game, 1.5 assists per game, 0.3 steals per game, 0.7 blocks per game, 0.1 blocks per game, 1.9 turnovers per game, and has put up a shooting percentage of 37.9% and and 40% from three.

Guard RJ Eytle-Rock has played in 13 games this season and has averaged 7.1 points per game, 1.6 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game, and has put up a shooting percentage of 36.6% with 34.3% from three.

Guard Max Shulga has averaged 11 minutes per game and has also averaged 4.2 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game, 0.8 assists per game, and has a shooting percentage of 46.7% and 35.3% from three.

Center Trevin Dorius has played in 14 games this season and has averaged 3.2 points per game, 3.1 rebounds per game, 0.1 assists per game, and has a shooting percentage of 60% from the field and 52.9% from three.

Forward Zee Hamoda in his first season, has played in 12 games, and has also averaged 2.7 points per game, 0.8 rebounds per game, 0.6 assists per game, and has a shooting percentage of 41.9% and 31.3% from three.

Analysis

This has been an up and down season for Utah State so far. The loss to UC Davis at the start of the year was a bad loss before the Aggies were able to pull off a couple of wins, including over Richmond and Oklahoma.

After the loss to Saint Mary’s, Utah State hasn’t been the same team that went on that winning streak early in the season. The Aggies have lost to BYU and Iowa and put up a very poor performance in a loss against Air Force.

The next scheduled game for the Aggies is against a very hot Boise State team, so Utah State needs to figure things out and get ready for that game. This is a significant game for the Aggies to win where they are in the Mountain West standings now because Utah State can ill-afford to go on a losing streak in conference play.

Utah State can still manage to get back on track however it needs to start now, not at some point later in the season. As the Aggies get closer to March, figuring themselves out as a team and winning key games are going to make or break the season. Utah State is certainly capable and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Utah State find their footing quickly.