USU Game Notes | Listen Live

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's basketball (10-1) faces its oldest rival, BYU (8-4), on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 6 p.m., inside Vivint Smart Home Arena in the third installment of the Beehive Classic. Fans can watch the game on BYUtv (DirecTV 374, Dish 9403) with Dave McCann providing play-by-play and Blaine Fowler serving as the analyst.

Opening Tips
• Utah State's 10-1 start to the season is its best since the 2012-13 team began the year with a 14-1 record.

• Utah State trails BYU 92-143 in what is the longest series in USU men's basketball history. The Aggies have lost seven straight to the Cougars and are 0-3 all-time in neutral-site contests.

• Utah State is 4-6 all-time at Vivint Smart Home Arena with victories over Southern Utah (76-63) during the 1994-95 season, Wyoming (73-72) during the 1996-97 season, San Diego State (64-61) during the 1997-98 season and Weber State (76-67) in last year's Beehive Classic.

• Utah State is 1-1 all-time in the Beehive Classic, losing to Utah, 77-67, during the 2017-18 season, before beating Weber State, 76-67, during the 2018-19 season.

• As of Dec. 10, Utah State is among the top-10 in the nation in nine different statistics. The Aggies lead the nation in total rebounds (488), rank second in rebound margin (+12.7) and free throws made (200), third in free throws attempted (260) and scoring margin (+20.9), fourth in defensive rebounds per game (31.55) and total rebounds per game (44.36), fifth in total assists (181), sixth in won-lost percentage (.909) and 10th in assist-turnover ratio (1.45). USU is also among the top-25 in the country in free throw percentage, shooting 76.9 percent from the line to rank No. 25 in the land.

• Utah State is the only team in the Mountain West with five players scoring in double figures. Furthermore, the Aggies are also the only team in the Mountain West with two players coming off the bench that average double figures.

• Utah State senior guard Sam Merrill, currently with 1,745 career points, is inching closer to moving up in the career scoring mark in USU history. Merrill is four points behind Tai Wesley (2008-11) for No. 8, and 29 points behind Kendall Youngblood (1989-92) for No. 7 on the all-time scoring list.

• Merrill needs four more assists to tie Tony Brown (396) for No. 3 on the all-time assists list, two steals away from tying Wesley for No. 9 on the all-time steals list and two field goals away from breaking into the top-10 in career field goals.

• Merrill did not appear in Utah State's last contest against Saint Katherine, snapping a streak of 102 consecutive games played and 97 consecutive starts.

• Sophomore forward Justin Bean, a former walk-on, leads the Mountain West in rebounding with 12.0 boards per contest and is one of two players in the conference averaging a double-double (Carlton Bragg, UNM), turning in 14.7 points per game. 

• Bean is second in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.64), fourth in the nation in total rebounds per game (12.0) and 20th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (7.36).

• Bean's 12.0 rebounds per game is the most by an Aggie since Marvin Roberts pulled down a school-record 13.9 rebounds per contest during the 1969-70 season.

• Over the last four games, Bean has recorded more offensive rebounds by himself than all four of the entire teams combined (24-23).

• Bean has recorded a double-double in each of the last six games and is tied for first in the nation with eight double-doubles on the year.

• Bean's streak of consecutive double-doubles is the longest since Greg Grant recorded 10 straight during the 1984-85 season.

• Bean is the first Aggie to average a double-double in a season since Mike Santos averaged 18.2 points and 11.3 rebounds per game during the 1976-77 season.

• USU head coach Craig Smith is 3-2 all-time against teams from the Beehive State, including a 3-1 record at USU. 

The Utah State/BYU Series
• BYU has won eight of the last 10 contests, including each of the last seven. Five of the last seven victories by the Cougars have come by double digits.

• In Utah State's two victories over the last 10, USU has recorded more rebounds, more free throws, shot at a higher percentage at the free throw line and has committed fewer fouls than the Cougars en route to the wins.

• Utah State has shot better from the floor in six of the last 10 games in the series.

• The shooting prowess has extended beyond the 3-point line as well, as Utah State has recorded a better shooting percentage from long range in eight of the last nine games.

• The opposite holds true at the free throw line as BYU is shooting a higher percentage at the charity stripe in each of the last seven games.

• Utah State has committed more turnovers in eight of the last 10 games, including each of the last seven games.

• Utah State senior guard Sam Merrill and BYU senior guard Zac Seljaas were teammates at Bountiful High School.

• Merrill and Seljaas, along with USU junior guard Abel Porter and BYU senior forward Dalton Nixon were all teammates on the same AAU club as well.

• BYU is the last team that held Utah State without a 3-point bucket. The Aggies have a consecutive streak of 436 games with a 3-point basket, stretching back to the 2006-07 season. The Cougars held USU without a 3-point bucket on Dec. 16, 2006.