by: Wade Denniston, USU Athletic Media Relations
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Utah State junior guard Diogo Brioto scored a career-high 23 points off the bench, to go along with a career-high-tying six assists, as the Aggies rallied to beat San José State 81-63 on Wednesday night at the Event Center.
The Aggies (13-5, 3-2 Mountain West) trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, but rallied to take a 41-35 lead at the break. A Brito three gave the Aggies their first lead of the game, 31-29, with 4:20 on the clock. The bucket was part of a 20-1 run by Utah State over a seven-minute stretch that put the Aggies ahead for good.
Freshman center
Neemias Queta had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Aggies, who shot 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field, including 40.7 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-27), and a season-high 93.3 percent at the charity stripe (14-of-15).
Three other Aggies scored in double figures in redshirt freshman guard
Brock Miller (13 points), junior guard
Sam Merrill (12 points) and freshman guard
Tauriawn Knight (10 points). Merrill logged a career-high five steals as part of a season-high 13 steals by the Aggies as San José State committed 22 turnovers, the most by a USU opponent this season.
San José State's Noah Baumann led all scorers in the game with 29 points. He was the lone Spartan to finish in double-figure scoring.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 44.7 percent (21-of-47) from the floor, 50.0 percent (12-of-24) from behind the 3-point line and 50.0 percent (9-of-18) at the free throw line. Baumann was a large part of the Spartans' success from deep, shooting 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from behind the 3-point line during the night.
Utah State will return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 19, when the Aggies welcome Colorado State to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The game is scheduled to tip at 7 p.m.
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