LOGAN, Utah – Freshman guard Steven Ashworth scored both a game- and career-high 17 points as Utah State rallied from 10 down at the half to beat San Diego State 64-59 on Saturday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Ashworth knocked down a pair of free throws with 4:32 remaining in the second half to snap a 53-all tie, and the Aggies (11-3, 8-0 Mountain West), winners of 10 straight games, never relinquished the lead.

"It was a great game today and a great team win," said Ashworth, who made a trio of 3-pointers and all eight of his free throw attempts. "That was the definition of a team win, with a lot of guys stepping up, and a lot of guys making plays. The first half wasn't the first half we anticipated or hoped for, but we came back in the second half with a pretty good response. The crowd really got behind us, and it's always great to be in the Spectrum."

Junior guard Brock Miller added 11 points for Utah State, which dealt the Aztecs (9-4, 3-3 MW) consecutive losses for the first time since March 6 and 9, 2019, respectively – a span of 48 games, which was tied for the third-longest active streak in the nation.

Playing without the services of star forward Matt Mitchell, who was injured in the series opener on Thursday, a 57-45 win for the Aggies, the Aztecs (9-4, 3-3 MW) were led by Terrell Gomez's 16 points off the bench, while Lamont Butler added 13.

"It's a disappointing loss," SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher said. "With that being said, I like the toughness and grit of this team. Without Matt Mitchell, we came out and fought hard. We adjusted our attitude offensively, where we wanted to play downhill and attack more, and not be so cautious. I think we did that. We got downhill and that benefited us on offense."

The 59 points scored by San Diego State are its second-fewest in a game this season behind the 45 points it scored against Utah State on Thursday. It is also the first time the Aztecs have been held under 60 points in consecutive games since the 2016-17 season, when they scored under 60 points in each of their final four Mountain West games.

Neemias Queta filled the stat sheet for Utah State before fouling out with less than three minutes to go. The 7-foot junior center had 10 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, four assists and one steal.

As a team, the Aggies outrebounded the Aztecs 39-32. Utah State has outrebounded every opponent this season and is now 63-11 under third-year head coach Craig Smith when winning the battle of the boards.

"The difference in the game – every time we play them – rebounding is a critical part of the game," Dutcher said. "Their second-chance opportunities were really important for them to win the game. We didn't do a good enough job of keeping them off the glass. All that being said, we're making progress. The Aztecs are getting better. Like I told them, our best basketball is ahead of us. We have to believe that, we have to keep practicing hard and getting better every day."

A pair of 3-pointers by Miller and freshman guard Rollie Worster helped the Aggies jump out to a 6-0 lead. The were up 14-6 with 12:34 to go in the first half after Ashworth nailed his first trey of the day, but baskets were hard to come by after that for Utah State.

From that point on in the half, the Aggies shot just 3-for-12 from the field and 1-for-4 from the free throw line, to go along with seven turnovers. SDSU ended the half on a 22-5 run as it held USU scoreless over the final 4:55.

"It was a tale of two halves," Smith said. "The first half got off to a good start, then we were not good in any phase the last 10 minutes. Turnovers were killing us on both ends of the floor. On the offensive end, we had no pace. We looked like we had no direction. We had a deer-in-the headlights look, and that's a credit to San Diego State.

"They were very aggressive and took us out of some of our stuff, then they ramped it up another notch. That affected our defense, some of that was catastrophic turnovers where our offense was their best offense. We lost a little bit of our will on the defensive end."

Whatever Smith told his team at the break certainly worked as the Aggies opened the second half on a 15-2 run.

"We came out on fire in the second half, and in the first five minutes we were able to get back that 10-point deficit," Smith said. "We made some big plays down the stretch, shot well from the free throw line and only had four turnovers in the second half. It was a tale of two halves, holding them to 34.5 percent in the second half. We did a lot of great things, and fortunately for us, we were able to find a way to win. It's hard to beat those guys twice. Any time you can defeat San Diego State, that's a good victory, because they are well coached and very talented."

Jordan Schakel, who finished with 11 points, scored four quick points for the Aztecs to give them a 47-44 lead with 8:34 to go. That would be the last time SDSU led on the afternoon.

USU shot 37.3 percent from the field on the day (19-of-51), including 33.3 percent from 3-point range (7-of-21), and 76.0 percent from the free throw line (19-of-25). Conversely, SDSU shot 41.1 percent from the floor (23-of-56), including 31.6 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-19), and just 46.7 percent from the charity stripe (7-of-15).

Utah State remains at home next week with a pair of games against Colorado State on Tuesday and Thursday, Jan. 19 and 21, respectively. Tuesday's game is slated to tip at 7 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).

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