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LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's basketball returns home and hosts No. 13/12 San Diego State on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m. Fans can watch the game live on the CBS Sports Network (Comcast Ch. 269, DirecTV Ch. 221, Dish Ch. 158).

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 also lost its third conference game during the 2018-19 season and then proceeded to win seven straight and 17 of the next 18.

• Utah State has won 14-straight home games, including eight consecutive MW contests, making it the longest streak since the Aggies won 32-straight home games from the 2009-11 seasons.

• Utah State is 22-1 at home under head coach Craig Smith, including a perfect 13-0 mark against non-conference opponents.

• Utah State has won nine of its last 10 conference games and 12 of its last 13 contests against Mountain West opponents.

• 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.

• Utah State is receiving votes in both polls this week, including 30 votes in the AP poll to rank No. 31 and 38 votes in the coaches poll to rank tied for No. 26.

• Utah State is 17-101 all-time against foes ranked in the AP top-25.

• The Aggies' last ranked opponent at home was No. 12 Nevada on March 2, 2019, which was an 81-76 victory for Utah State over the Wolf Pack.

• As of Jan. 1, Utah State is among the Top-10 in the nation in eight different statistics. The Aggies lead the nation in total rebounds (683) and total assists (269), rank second in both free throws made (283) and free throws attempted (367), fifth in defensive rebounds per game (30.69), seventh in rebound margin (10.4), eighth in total rebounds per game (42.69) and ninth in scoring margin (17.6).

• Utah State is also among the Top-25 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.37, 18th), free throw percentage (77.1, 23rd) and assists per game (16.8, 25th).

• Utah State has 11 different players that have scored in double figures during the year. The Aggies had a school-record eight different players score in double figures in the contest against Eastern Oregon (Dec. 28).

• USU senior guard Sam Merrill became just the seventh Aggie in school history to eclipse 1,800 points with his 10 points at UNLV. Merrill is currently ranked No. 7 in school history with 1,808 career points.

• Sophomore forward Justin Bean, a former walk-on, leads the Mountain West in rebounding with 11.4 boards per contest and is the only player in the league to record a double-double in every MW contest this season. Bean is tied for first in the nation with 10 double-doubles on the year.

• Bean leads the nation with 183 total rebounds this year, and is third in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.44), eighth in the nation in total rebounds per game (11.4) and 29th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (7.00).

• 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.

• Senior guard Diogo Brito is on the brink of logging 100 career steals. Brito currently has 99 thefts is his career.


The Utah State/San Diego State series
• Utah State and San Diego State will play for just the 17th time in school history, making it the shortest series for the Aggies against a Mountain West opponent.


• Utah State trails in the all-time series 5-11, but has won each of the last two.


• The Aggies' winning formula has been simple over the last two games. In the victories, USU outrebounded the Aztecs and shot better from the floor and from behind the 3-point line than San Diego State. Utah State also had a lead going into the half in each of the last two contests.


• Since joining the Mountain West, Utah State has faced San Diego State the most among all league institutions, facing the Aztecs a total of 13 times since the 2013-14 season. The Aggies have also faced Nevada and Wyoming a total of 13 times since joining the MW.


• Senior guard Sam Merrill is averaging 21.0 points per game against the Aztecs in his career.