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LOGAN, Utah - Utah State (12-2, 2-0 MW) men's basketball continues its 2019-20 season this week, hosting Eastern Oregon (7-6) on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m. USU is 2-0 all-time against the Mountaineers. Fans can watch the game on the Mountain West Network, online at www.utahstateaggies.com/watch.

Opening Tips
• Utah State and Eastern Oregon will be playing exactly one year to the day that the teams faced during the 2018-19 season, as USU posted an 84-57 victory over EOU on Dec. 28, 2018.

• Utah State has won 13-straight home games, making it the longest streak since the Aggies won 32-straight home games from the 2009-11 seasons.

• Utah State is 21-1 at home under head coach Craig Smith, including a perfect 12-0 mark against non-conference opponents.

• Utah State is a perfect 28-0 in school history against NAIA opponents and 66-0 against non-Division 1 foes.

• Utah State has appeared in or has received votes in both the AP poll and coaches poll every week this season. The Aggies were ranked as high as No. 15, its highest ranking since the 1970-71 season, when USU was ranked as high as No. 9 that season.

• Utah State is receiving votes in both polls this week, including 36 votes in the AP poll to rank No. 32 and 30 votes in the coaches poll to rank No. 31.

• As of Dec. 25, Utah State is among the Top-10 in the nation in six different statistics. The Aggies are second in the nation in both total rebounds (591) and free throws made (238), fifth in free throw attempts (310), seventh in rebound margin (+10.0), and ninth in both defensive rebounds per game (30.36) and total assists (225).

• Utah State is also among the Top-25 in total rebounds per game (42.21, 11th), scoring margin (+16.5, 13th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.33, 24th).

• Utah State has proven to be unbeatable when shooting better from the floor than its opponent (8-0) and is also undefeated when shooting better from behind the 3-point line (8-0).

• Utah State went a perfect 2-0 against teams in Power 5 conferences, posting victories over SEC-opponents Florida (65-62) and LSU (80-78).

• A victory for USU will match the most non-conference wins for the Aggies since the 2010-11 season, when Utah State also went 11-2.

• USU senior guard Sam Merrill is on brink of becoming just the seventh Aggie to eclipse 1,800 career points. Merrill currently has 1,798 points in his career.

• Sophomore forward Justin Bean, a former walk-on, leads the Mountain West in rebounding with 11.4 boards per contest and is one of three players in the conference averaging a double-double (Carlton Bragg, UNM; Nate Grimes, FS), turning in 13.9 points per game. 

• Bean is fourth in the nation with eight double-doubles on the year.

• Bean is second in the nation with 160 total rebounds this year, fifth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.29), sixth in the nation in total rebounds per game (11.4) and 28th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (7.14).

• Bean's 11.4 rebounds per game is the most by an Aggie since Marvin Roberts pulled down 11.8 rebounds per contest during the 1970-71 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.

Scouting Eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon, an NAIA institution located in La Grande, Ore., is 7-6 on the year, having lost four of its last five contests. The Mountaineers are 0-2 all-time against the Aggies, having faced Utah State exactly one year ago on Dec. 28, 2018, and losing 84-57. The two teams also played during the 1941-42 season, with the Aggies posting a 56-42 victory.

EOU scores in bunches, averaging 102.1 points per game and shooting 53.8 percent (503-of-935) from the floor, 37.9 percent (107-of-282) from behind the 3-point line and 76.7 percent (214-of-279) at the free throw line. Junior guard Max McCullough leads the Mountaineers in scoring with 20.6 points per game and is one of five players averaging double figures. He is followed by senior center Jarek Schetzle (19.1 ppg), junior guard Jamal Heckard (16.3 ppg), senior guard Landon Jones (15.7 ppg) and junior guard Josh Brown (11.9 ppg). McCullough, Heckard and sophomore guard Kobi Gardea all average more than four assists per game to pace EOU, averaging 4.8, 4.7 and 4.6 helpers per game, respectively. Schetzle and Jones lead Eastern Oregon on the glass, pulling down 9.8 and 9.5 rebounds per game, respectively.

Defensively, EOU opponents are scoring 89.2 points per game and shooting 42.5 percent (419-of-987) from the floor, 36.1 percent (153-of-424) from behind the 3-point line and 74.1 percent (169-of-228) at the free throw line. Heckard leads the team with 2.7 steals per game and Schetzle leads EOU with 2.2 blocks per game.

The Eastern Oregon/USU Series
• Sophomore forward Justin Bean scored a then-career-high 12 points against Eastern Oregon when the two teams met during the 2018-19 season.

• Utah State played a total of 12 players in the game against the Mountaineers last season.

• Eastern Oregon committed 21 turnovers against the Aggies last season, the second-most by an opponent against Utah State last season.