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SANTA CLARA — Utah State beat Santa Clara 84-82 in the team's third true road contest of the season Wednesday night.
The game was a back-and-forth affair all evening, and featured 14 lead changes and 11 ties. Neither team could establish and maintain a consistent lead (the largest lead for either team being just 8 points), though Santa Clara led marginally for the majority of the game. Utah State's largest lead was just 5 points.
"Proud of our fight and just figuring out a way to win in the last eight minutes on the road," Aggies first-year head coach Danny Sprinkle said. "That's what it's all about."
Both teams struggled in different aspects Wednesday: Utah State attempted 75 field goals, but made only 37% of their shots, while Santa Clara shot much better from the field (57%), but had fewer opportunities.
The Aggies, though, found "a way to win," as Sprinkle said, this time on the defensive end.
"Even though we're not shooting it good, we can go and win the game on the defensive end, and that's a big thing for us," forward Max Agbonkpolo said.
The Aggies' intense defense and physicality forced the Broncos to turn the ball over 19 times to the Aggies' nine, and held them to only four offensive rebounds compared to their own 17.
Utah State's scoring looked much different against Santa Clara than it has in past contests. Rather than the team's typical scoring-by-committee approach — and perhaps because of the team's widespread challenges shooting the ball Wednesday evening — Utah State was led in scoring by Darius Brown II and Ian Martinez, with 23 and 28 points, respectively. The two guards also combined for eight rebounds, nine assists, and seven steals.
Martinez's 28 points were a career-high.
"They're both electric with the ball in their hands. They can create their own shot," Sprinkle said of Brown and Martinez. "Some of the shots they made tonight were tough. You don't want to have to rely on those, but Santa Clara was packing the paint and making it really hard for us to get to the rim, and sometimes it comes down to guys (have) got to make those plays."
Agbonkpolo, who finished second on the team in rebounds with seven, was the only other player to score in double figures with 10, including two big 3-point shots in the first half.
Great Osobor and Mason Falslev, who have dominated on the offensive side of the ball this season, both struggled, scoring just 12 combined points. Osobor, specifically, shot just 3-of-15 from the field, though he did lead his team in rebounds with 10.
Ultimately, it was a messy and ugly evening in Santa Clara, but the Aggies found a way to notch a quality win against a physical WCC opponent on the road and, perhaps, got a taste of what many of their conference games may be like this season.
"I like competitive, good D-I games, and that was this tonight," Agbonkpolo said. "I think by far this is the best team we've played so far this season, and for us to come into Santa Clara and get that win was big for us."
With the win, Utah State improved to 10-1 and 2-1 on the road. Sprinkle's 10-1 start is the best in the Aggies' program history for a first-year head coach. The Aggies also extended their win streak to nine ahead of a contest against San Francisco at the Delta Center Saturday afternoon.
