USU Game Notes | Listen Live | Watch Live

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State (10-2, 2-0 MW) men's basketball continues its 2019-20 season this week, continuing a stretch of three neutral site games, facing South Florida (6-4) inside the Toyota Center, home of the NBA's Houston Rockets, on Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 5:45 p.m. (MT). Fans can watch the game against the Bulls on ESPN3, online at www.watchespn.com.

Opening Tips
• Utah State has never lost back-to-back games under head coach Craig Smith and is a perfect 8-0 following a loss over the last two years.

• Utah State is 7-3 in neutral-site games under head coach Craig Smith, including a 2-1 record this season.

• Utah State has been led in scoring by four different players over the last four games. Junior forward Justin Bean led the Aggies with 18 points at San José State, senior guard Sam Merrill led the Aggies with 24 points against Fresno State, sophomore guard Brock Miller led the Aggies with 22 points against Saint Katherine and junior forward Alphonso Anderson led the Aggies with 14 points against BYU.

• As of Dec. 15, Utah State is among the Top-10 in the nation in seven different statistics. The Aggies lead the nation in total rebounds (524), rank third in free throws made (214) and rebound margin (+12.1), fifth in free throw attempts (276), total rebounds per game (43.67) and defensive rebounds per game (31.17) and seventh in scoring margin (+18.8).

• 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.

• Merrill, currently with 1,756 career points, is inching closer to moving up in the career scoring mark in USU history. Merrill is 18 points behind Kendall Youngblood (1989-92) for No. 7 on the all-time scoring list.

• Merrill needs one more assist to tie Tony Brown (396) for No. 3 on the all-time assists list and one steal away from tying Tai Wesley for No. 9 on the all-time steals list.

• Bean, a former walk-on, leads the Mountain West in rebounding with 11.8 boards per contest and is one of three players in the conference averaging a double-double (Carlton Bragg, UNM; Nate Grimes, FS), turning in 14.2 points per game. 

• Bean is tied for first in the nation with eight double-doubles on the year.

• Bean leads the nation with 142 total rebounds this year, ranks third in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.50), fifth in the nation in total rebounds per game (11.8) and 22nd in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (7.33).

• Bean's 11.8 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.

• 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.

The Utah State/South Florida Series
• Utah State and South Florida will be meeting for just the second time in school, having squared off in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Nov. 18, 2000. The Aggies won the lone meeting, 69-66.

• Utah State is 1-4 all-time against teams from The Sunshine State, facing four of the five teams on neutral courts. The Aggies lost on neutral courts to Central Florida, Florida, and Jacksonville, and also lost on the road at Florida State.

• Central Florida is the last team the Aggies have faced from the state of Florida, losing 55-52 to the Golden Knights during the 2004-05 season.

Scouting South Florida
South Florida is 6-4 on the year and riding a three-game winning streak after victories over Furman (65-55), Dartmouth (63-44) and Drexel (81-61).

The Bulls are averaging 63.9 points per game and holding opponents to 59.4 points per game. USF is led in scoring by junior guard David Collins with 15.3 points per game, followed by senior guard Laquincy Rideau with 13.2 points per game. Rideau also leads the team with both assists and steals, averaging 3.8 and 2.8 per game, respectively. Sophomore forward Michael Durr leads South Florida on the glass, averaging 6.2 rebounds per contest.

As a team, USF is shooting 41.7 percent (225-of-540) from the floor, 33.3 percent (74-of-222) from behind the 3-point line and 59.0 percent (115-of-195) at the free throw line. Opponents are shooting 44.7 percent (208-of-465) from the floor, 37.8 percent (71-of-188) from behind the 3-point line and 64.8 percent (107-of-165) at the free throw line.

Head coach Brian Gregory is in his third season at the helm of USF, leading the Bulls to an overall record of 40-40, including a 24-14 record last year en route to the CBI Championship.