By: Wade Denniston, USU Athletic Media Relations
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State's men's basketball team wrapped up the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 81-62 win over Portland State on Tuesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Senior forward
Justin Bean led the way for the Aggies (9-4) with 29 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore guard
Max Shulga added a career-high 18 points and season-high seven rebounds in his first career start.
Shulga provided one of the best highlights of the night when he grabbed a defensive rebound and attempted an outlet pass from well in front of midcourt to a wide open
Brandon Horvath. Instead of landing in the hands of Horvath, the ball swished through the hoop instead.
Bean shot 11-of-15 from the field, including a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range, becoming just the seventh player in school history to shoot 100.0 percent from beyond the arc with a minimum of five attempts.
Junior guard
Sean Bairstow was the only other Aggie to score in double figures as he had 11 off the bench. Grad senior forward
Brandon Horvath filled the stat sheet for Utah State, flirting with a near-triple-double of nine points, nine rebounds, seven assists and one steal.
Just like they have been all season long, the Aggies were very unselfish as they recorded 25 assists on 31 made baskets. Senior guard
Rylan Jones dished out a game-high eight helpers.
James Jean-Marie, Khalid Thomas and Paris Dawson led the Vikings (3-7) with 13 points apiece, while Marlon Ruffin chipped in 10.
Thomas scored six of Portland State's first eight points to help the visitors jump out to an 8-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest.
Utah State, which missed its first four shots of the game, finally dented the scoreboard at the 17:14 mark courtesy of a pair of free throws by Shulga to make it 8-2. Just 14 seconds later, Bean scored the Aggies' first field goal on an alley-oop layup off a pass from Jones.
Sophomore guard
Steven Ashworth, who had six points and four assists, gave Utah State its first lead of the night at 9-8 when he knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:50 remaining in the opening half.
Portland State led 20-17 with 9:54 to go when Utah State seized control for good with a 15-2 run. The Aggies never looked back from there and went into the halftime break leading 42-29.
Utah State shot a season-high 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the field, including a season-high 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from 3-point range. However, the Aggies shot just 50.0 percent from the free throw line (7-of-14).
Portland State shot 33.9 percent (20-of-59) overall, which is the second-worst shooting performance by an Aggie opponent this year. It is also the fifth time this year that USU has held its opponent under 40 percent shooting. From beyond the arc, the Vikings shot 29.6 percent (8-of-27), and 73.7 percent from the charity stripe (14-of-19).
The Aggies open Mountain West play on the road when they travel to USAF Academy, Colorado, to take on Air Force on Wednesday, Dec. 29, at 1 p.m. The Falcons are 7-4 overall, including 4-0 at Clune Arena, but have lost three in a row.
For more information on Utah State's men's basketball program, follow the Aggies on Facebook at usumensbasketball, on Twitter at @usubasketball and on Instagram at @usubasketball. Fans can also watch USU men's basketball highlights by visiting youtube.com/utahstateathletics.
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