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LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's basketball officially opens its 2021-22 season on Tuesday, hosting UC Davis inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum with action scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

Opening Tips
• Utah State returns  seven letterwinners from a season ago, including starters Justin Bean, a senior forward, and Brock Miller, a senior guard. Utah State will be under the direction of first-year head coach Ryan Odom, who joined the Aggies after five years at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). In addition to a new head coach, the Aggies also welcome 10 newcomers into the mix, including UMBC-transfers Brandon Horvath, a senior forward, and RJ Eytle-Rock, a junior guard, and Utah-transfer Rylan Jones, a junior guard. Utah State enters the season picked fifth in the Mountain West preseason poll.

• All-time, Utah State is 85-31 in season openers and has won 24 of its last 27. The Aggies last opened at home during the 2019-20 season, posting an 81-73 victory over Montana State.

• Utah State enters the 2021-22 season with three players in pursuit of 1,000 points in their respective careers, including Horvath (986 points), Bean (853 points) and Miller (841 points).

• Bean is the only returning player in the Mountain West to average 11+ points, 7.5+ rebounds, 1.5+ assists and 1.0+ steals per game from a season ago.

• Bean is on pace to become just the third Aggie in school history to finish his career with more than 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Currently, Bean has totaled 853 points and 689 career rebounds.

• Utah State finished last season 20-9, marking the third-straight year with 20 or more wins and the first time the Aggies have won 20 games or more in three-consecutive seasons since 2010-13.

• Utah State finished the year averaging 72.6 points and 40.7 rebounds per game, continuing a streak of three-straight years with 70 or more points and 40 or more rebounds per game.

• Since the year 2000, only 17 teams have recorded 16 seasons with 20 or more wins and 11 NCAA Tournament bids (Utah State, Kentucky, Florida, North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, Texas, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Arizona, Xavier, Creighton, Butler, BYU and Gonzaga).

• Utah State won more road games in MW play than any other team in the league last season.

• Odom is the 20th head coach in Utah State men's basketball history and will look to become the fourth-straight first-year head coach to capture a victory in his USU coaching debut. All-time USU head coaches are 13-6 in their men's basketball debut.

Scouting UC Davis
UC Davis finished the 2020-21 season with an overall mark of 10-8, including a 6-4 ledger in the Big West. The Aggies had 11 games canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UCD averaged 71.9 points per game, shooting 44.0 percent (449-of-1,020) from the floor, 32.4 percent (102-of-315) from behind the 3-point line and 78.5 percent (295-of-376) at the free throw line. Sophomore guard Ezra Manjon is the top returning scorer for the Aggies, as he averaged 15.6 points per game while also pacing the team with 3.3 assists per game. Sophomore guard Elijah Pepper is the top returning rebounder for the Aggies, averaging 5.0 per contest a season ago.

The UC Davis defense allowed 71.6 points per game last year as opponents shot 46.6 percent (448-of-962) from the floor, 35.0 percent (118-of-337) from behind the 3-point line and 71.4 percent (275-of-385) at the free throw line. Pepper led the team in steals with 2.1 per contest, while San José State-transfer Christian Anigwe is the top returning shot blocker, averaging 0.6 blocks per game in his first season with the Aggies in 2020-21.

UC Davis posted a 74-64 victory over William Jessup in an exhibition game on Oct. 30.