LOGAN, Utah - Utah State University men's basketball will host its final exhibition game of the 2014-15 season on Friday night when the Aggies host the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Fans can listen to the game live on the radio at FM 97.1 in the Cache Valley area.

USU has won 14 straight exhibition contests, dating back to the 2007 season and is 25-5 in exhibition games under head coach Stew Morrill.

The run included a 77-70 victory over Texas A&M-International in Utah State's opening exhibition game last Friday. Redshirt freshman forward David Collette showed little rust, being removed from basketball for three years, in leading the team with 23 points during the game.

The Aggies made the most of 17 fouls committed by the Dustdevils in the first half by converting 15-of-16 attempts from the charity stripe and turning 12 TAMIU turnovers into 10 points. Collette led the charge with 10 first-half points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and a 4-for-4 performance at the free throw line, despite being hampered by three fouls.

Missed free throw opportunities by the Aggies in the second half kept the game close, as the high-percentage shooting in the first half turned into a 52.2 percent (12-of-23) showing over the final 20 minutes. A 3-point bucket by guard Viko Noma'aea with less than a minute and a pair of free throws by the sophomore ultimately sealed the game for Utah State, 77-70.

Collette led all scorers and added four rebounds, one block and one steal in 25 minutes of the play after fouling out with 1:33 remaining. He was joined in double-digit scoring by Smith with 13. Sophomore wing Jalen Moore led the Aggies on the glass with seven rebounds and chipped in nine points, one assist and two steals in a team-high 35 minutes. Moore and junior guard Darius Perkins provided the highlight of the night on an alley-oop face break, one of a team-high tying three assists for Perkins during the contest.

Arkansas-Fort Smith was founded in 1928, originally as a junior college, but has expanded in size and vision over the years. The school joined the University of Arkansas system in 2002. UAFS has an enrollment of 7,154 students and is located in the second-largest city in Arkansas, Fort Smith, with a population of more than 85,000. UAFS teams compete in the Heartland Conference as a member of NCAA Division II.

Arkansas-Fort Smith is the two-time defending regular season champion of the Heartland Conference (the same conference as the Aggies' previous opponent Texas A&M-International) and has been picked to finish first for the fourth consecutive season. The Lions finished the 2013-14 season with an overall mark of 21-7, including a 14-4 record in the HLC.

UAFS returns its leading scorer from last season in sophomore guard Seth Youngblood. The 2013-14 Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year recorded 14.5 points per game and added 2.5 rebounds and just under two assists per game. The Lions also return a season double-digit scorer in sophomore guard Alex Cooper, who finished fourth on the team with 10.1 points per game. As a team, UAFS averaged 84.3 points per game, out scoring opponents by close to ten points per game (75.0).

Arkansas-Fort Smith also returns both of its leading rebounders as junior Kenny Martin, a 6-10 forward, and senior Miha Glavas, a 6-6 guard, led the way in 2013-14 with 7.3 and 6.4 rebounds per game, respectively. The Lions averaged more than six rebounds than their opponents in 2013-14, out rebounding the opposition, 40.8 to 34.5 boards per game.

UAFS advanced to the NCAA Division II tournament last season, falling in the first round to No. 3 Midwestern State 72-66. The Lions were also upset in the opening round of the Heartland Conference tournament, suffering an 81-79 defeat to No. 4 Texas-Permian Basin.

Head coach Josh Newman is in his ninth year at the helm of the UAFS program, compiling an overall mark of 152-86 over that span. Newman has ties to the Mountain West, having coached at the University of Nevada as an assistant from 2003-2006.

Utah State will open its 2014-15 regular season slate on Nov. 14 when the Aggies host Big Sky Conference favorite Weber State. Tip-off in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Utah State men's basketball season ticket renewals and new season tickets are now on sale. For more Aggie men's basketball ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the "Buy Tickets" tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.

Fans can follow the Aggie men's basketball program at @AggieHoops or Coach Morrill at @USUCoachMorrill. USU fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at @USUAthletics, on facebook at Utah State University Athletics or on instagram at @USUAthletics.

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