LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's men's basketball team concluded non-conference play with a dominating, 129-61 victory over Eastern Oregon on Saturday afternoon at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Nine of the 10 Aggies that played scored in double figures, led by sophomore guard
Brock Miller, who had 25 points, to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Utah State (13-2) had a school-record 36 assists on 46 made baskets.
Diogo Brito dished out a career-high 11 assists. The senior guard flirted with a triple-double against the Mountaineers (7-6) as he had nine rebounds and five points. Junior forward
Alphonso Anderson, one of three Aggies to score 16 points, along with sophomore forward
Justin Bean and junior center
Kuba Karwowski, tallied a career-best six helpers.
For Karwowski, who returned to action for the first time since Nov. 24 against North Texas, it was the first time in his USU career that he scored in double figures.
The 129 points scored by Utah State are the second-most in school history and the most ever scored in regulation. The Aggies scored 140 points in 1985 against UNLV, as the Runnin' Rebels won in triple overtime, 142-140. Furthermore, Saturday marked the fifth time in program history that USU has scored 121 points or more.
Utah State's 68-point win is tied for the third-largest margin of victory in program history, and it was the Aggies' largest since posting a 92-16 victory (76 points) over Kurley Kilowatts during the 1938-39 season.
Bean recorded his ninth double-double of the season, and he nearly had it by intermission with 14 points and nine boards, helping Utah State go into the break with a comfortable 66-30 lead. Bean finished with a game-best 12 boards, to go along with three assists and two steals in just 18 minutes of work.
Freshman guard
Sean Bairstow recorded career highs with 14 points and six rebounds while playing in a career-high 31 minutes. Senior forward
Roche Grootfaam scored a career-high 13 points for the first double-digit scoring outing of his career.
Redshirt freshman center
Trevin Dorius added a career-high 12 points and eight rebounds, while junior guard
Abel Porter was the final Aggie to score in double figures with 12 points.
Utah State used its size to its advantage as the Aggies outrebounded the Mountaineers 63-24 and outscored Eastern Oregon 66-20 in the paint. The Aggies' 63 total rebounds surpassed EOU's point total, 61. USU also had a season-best 16 steals – the second-best in school history – and forced a season-best 22 turnovers, which led to 31 points.
The Aggies shot 58.2 percent from the field (46-of-79), including 39.1 percent from 3-point range (9-of-23), and 77.8 percent from the free throw line (28-of-36).
Eastern Oregon, which leads the NAIA in scoring, shot an icy 32.4 percent from the field (23-of-71), including 22.2 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-36), and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe (7-of-9).
Jarek Schetzle paced the Mountaineers with 13 points and Max McCullough added 12.
Utah State, which is 2-0 in the Mountain West, returns to conference play this week with a pair of games. The Aggies open the new year with a New Year's Day game at UNLV at 9 p.m. (MT), then return home to host No. 15/14 San Diego State on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m.
Utah State men's basketball news and information is available on Facebook (facebook.com/usumensbasketball), on Twitter (@usubasketball) and on Instagram (@usubasketball). Fans can also get USU men's basketball highlights on YouTube (youtube.com/utahstateathletics). Aggie fans can follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter (@usuathletics), on Facebook (facebook.com/usuathletics) or on Instagram (@usuathletics).