Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LOGAN — Just about everything went the Aggies' way Wednesday night.
Utah State conquered WCC foe San Diego in a 108-81 win, the seventh straight of the season.
Utah State, who shot 60% from the field, surpassed the century mark with just over five minutes left to play in the game, putting an exclamation point on an offensive showcase that lasted all evening.
Aggies' head coach Danny Sprinkle said the offensive success can be attributed to the team's attention to getting defensive stops; the Aggies scored 23 points off turnovers. Utah State had nine steals and five blocks, as well, all while outrebounding the Toreros 41-27.
In any case, something clicked for the Aggies' offense en route to a massive victory. The big lead early in the game gave the Aggies a chance to play guys who don't usually get a lot of minutes for the latter part of the second half.
"It's all about having fun out there," said starting guard Ian Martinez, who finished with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. "It feels good to see the other guys who usually don't get to play. You know, they love basketball, too. It might be tough for them, especially freshmen or for the walk-ons, to just not be able to get out there, but today they were, and they did a great job."
Perhaps most notably, not a single Aggies player surpassed 20 points in the game, while nine scored at least 6 points. All 13 players who saw the court on the evening scored at least 2 points. Mason Falslev, Great Osobor, Nigel Burris, and Martinez were the only players to score in double figures for Utah State.
"We have to be a strength in numbers team," Sprinkle said. "We have to be able to have multiple guys scoring on different nights."
The Aggies' offensive performance was supplemented by 23 San Diego team fouls, which led to 33 free-throw attempts by Utah State. San Diego found itself in foul trouble early, as two of their bigs fouled out early in the second half.
With the win, the Aggies improve to 8-1 on the season, with their only loss coming nearly a month ago on the road against Bradley. The team remains perfect at home.
Despite the success, Sprinkle said he continues to be hard on his players because he knows "what's coming."
"I know what's coming down the road in Mountain West play," he said. "We have a lot of habits that we've got to continue to change, because one possession of losing a shooter on a scouting report detail … can cost you a game in a Mountain West game, and, you know, we can't afford to do that."
The Aggies will welcome Northwest Nazarene in the third and final leg of their home stretch Saturday (7 p.m. MST) before going on the road to face Santa Clara next week.
