by: Wade Denniston, USU Athletic Media Relations

PROVO, Utah – A trio of double-digit scorers were not enough as Utah State's men's basketball team lost to #24/23 BYU 82-71 on Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.
 
The result dropped the Aggies to 6-3 overall, while the Cougars improved to 7-1.
 
Senior forward Justin Bean led the way for Utah State with 20 points and seven rebounds, while grad senior forward Brandon Horvath had 14 points and seven boards. The only other Aggie to score in double figures was junior guard Sean Bairstow, who had a season-high 11 off the bench.
 
Alex Barcello led BYU with 17 points, Te'Jon Lucas and Fousseyni Traore each had 14, and Trevin Knell chipped in 13.
 
Utah State senior forward Brock Miller scored his only points of the game on a 3-pointer just 17 seconds into the contest, giving the visitors a 3-0 lead. Bean hit a jumper to make it 5-2 shortly thereafter, but that would be the final lead the Aggies would enjoy.
 
Trailing 15-6 with 16:05 to go in the first half, Utah State used an 11-2 run to pull even at 17-all with 12:18 to go.
 
But over the next 4-plus minutes, the Aggies went cold from the field and the Cougars reeled off 12 unanswered points to open a 29-17 lead. During that key stretch, Utah State was 0-for-3 from the field and turned it over four times.
 
The Aggies coughed it up 17 times on the night, including nine in the first half, which led to 12 points on the other end for BYU. The Cougars led by as many as 13 during the first 20 minutes of play and went into the locker room with a 45-33 lead.
 
BYU's lead grew to 20 with 11:31 to go, but Utah State didn't fold.
 
Ignited by a Bairstow basket, the Aggies went used a 16-3 spurt to close the gap to 69-62 with 6:24 remaining. They could have gotten even closer, but over the next 2:52 USU missed three free throws, two shots from the field and committed one turnover.
 
On top of that, the Cougars had a scoreless drought of 5:15 that began at the 8:47 mark, but the Aggies couldn't take advantage.
 
Utah State shot 52.0 percent from the field (26-of-50), including 38.5 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-26), but just 45.0 percent from the free throw line (9-of-20).
 
BYU shot 50.0 percent from the field (26-of-52), including 45.8 percent from 3-point range (11-of-24), and 86.4 percent from the charity stripe (19-of-22).
 
The Aggies return home on Saturday, Dec. 11, when they welcome New Orleans to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The non-conference game is slated to tip at 7 p.m.
 
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.
 
-USU-