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LOGAN — For a good stretch of the second half on Saturday afternoon, Utah State played nearly flawless basketball.
After trading blows with UNLV for much of the game, the Aggies offense exploded in the final 12 minutes and went on a 16-0 run and finishing with 50 second-half points.
A 32-point effort from future NBA draft pick Bryce Hamilton wasn't enough to keep up, and the Running Rebels got run out of the Spectrum 90-75.
Everything clicked for the Aggies, starting with senior Justin Bean, who scored 20 second-half points and finished the game 5 of 7 from 3-point range. He chalked up his 15th double-double of the season and finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds.
Three other starters popped off as well, including Sean Bairstow, who found his groove in the paint and finished with 14 points. Steven Ashworth broke loose for a couple of dazzling plays at the hoop and finished with 14 points and 7 assists. Brandon Horvath added 17 points in the win for the Aggies.
And it was all to the delight of 9,029 fans cheering the Aggies on to their fifth straight win.
"Big-time environment. That was fun to coach in," Aggies coach Ryan Odom said. "I know it was fun for the players to play in that type of environment. We appreciate our fans coming out and being so into the game. Midway through that second half, it was extremely loud — just what you want the Spectrum to be."
Now 6-5 in conference play and 15-9 on the season, Utah State is playing their best offensive ball of the season. As a team, the Aggies shot 64% from the field and 45% from 3-point range. Despite playing their third game in five days, the Aggies played with pace, and at times made it look easy.
Horvath and Bean both flashed in and out of the post — both threats on the inside but good enough shooters to force their defenders out. When they weren't knocking down 3-pointers on the perimeter — Horvath had two and Bean had five — they were opening driving lanes Ashworth and Bairstow to go to work.
"Offensively, the passing was tremendous," Odom said. "Our guys, anybody that was in the game, was looking for one another."
The offense played well in the first half, shooting 60% and putting up 40 points. But thanks to Hamilton, the game went back and forth. Utah State struggled to find a matchup to stop Hamilton, throwing both Horvath and Max Shulga at him early without success. Ultimately, it was Ashworth who got the assignment to defend him and did what he could.
Stepping back for 3-pointers and driving to the lane and hitting floaters, Hamilton had 22 points through the first 28 minutes of play. The Aggies couldn't shake the Rebels and led just 54-53 with 12 minutes to play.
"It felt like we were just trading baskets for a while there in the first half, especially," Bean said. "Thought the guys that guarded Hamilton did as well as they could. He was hitting some tough ones."
Then things turned.
At the under-12 media timeout, Hamilton was subbed out of the game, and Utah State took full advantage. Bairstow received the ball at the high post and hit a turnaround jumper, Rylan Jones connected with Ashworth for a layup, a steal from Bean followed by a Bean layup gave the Aggies a 10-point lead with 9:22 to play.
With the Spectrum buzzing, Hamilton checked back into the game. He was called on a push-off on Ashworth for a turnover and then air balled a step-back 3-pointer.
"Basketball is a game of runs," Odom said. "Whoever can kind of get a hold of it on defense is the team that wins, and I thought our guys did that."
Offensively, Utah State kept going. Ashworth drove into the paint, faked a turn back outside, and dove in for the reverse layup. Bean collected the offensive rebound and made it to the line. And the Aggies led 80-62 with 3:13 to play to close out the victory.
.@stevenAsh_15 go off then‼️🤭#AggiesAllTheWaypic.twitter.com/vDrInhEXNO
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 6, 2022
An emphatic way to finish a three-game homestand, Utah State now turns their attention to a road game at second-place Wyoming. With the possibility for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament suddenly in play, the Quad 1 matchup may be the biggest game so far this season.
"They've been really good with one-day preps," Odom said about his players. "Let's see what they can do with two."
