by: Wade Denniston, USU Athletic Media Relations
LOGAN, Utah – Junior forward
Alphonso Anderson scored a career-high 21 points off the bench to lead the No. 17/19 Utah State men's basketball team to an 81-54 victory over North Carolina A&T in a non-conference game Friday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
It marked the fourth-consecutive game the Aggies (4-0) have had a different leading scorer. Anderson shot 6-of-9 from the field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line, to go along with six rebounds.
Sophomore forward
Justin Bean had a double-double for Utah State with 18 points and a game-best 10 boards, helping the Aggies outrebound NC A&T, 44-28.
Two other Aggies scored in double figures as sophomore guard
Brock Miller had 11 and senior guard
Sam Merrill chipped in 10, to go along with a game-high-tying five assists.
Ronald Jackson led the Carolina Aggies (1-3) with 15 points, while Fred Cleveland chipped in 14 off the bench and Tyler Maye added 10.
North Carolina A&T gave Utah State everything it could handle until the host Aggies finally took control over the final 15 minutes. A layup by Jackson pulled NC A&T to within 40-33 with 14:51 left, but USU ended the game on a 30-14 run.
Utah State opened the contest by scoring 12 of the first 14 points, but NC A&T pared the deficit to 13-11 with 11:12 remaining in the opening half on a jumper by Maye.
Another basket by Maye cut NC A&T's deficit to 28-20, but USU closed the half on a 10-3 run to take a 38-23 lead into the break. Anderson scored five points during the closing spurt.
Utah State had 22 assists on 29 field goals. Senior guard
Diogo Brito matched Merrill with five helpers, to go along with nine points, seven rebounds and two steals.
The host Aggies shot 55.8 percent on the night (29-of-52), including 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-15), and 60.0 percent from the free throw line (18-of-30). Defensively, USU limited NC A&T to just 35.0 percent shooting from the field (21-of-60), including 35.0 percent from 3-point range (7-of-20), and 45.5 percent from the free throw line (5-of-11).
Utah State will be back in action on Monday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m., when the Aggies welcome UTSA (0-4) to the Spectrum.
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