by Wade Denniston, USU Athletic Media Relations

LOGAN, Utah – Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and Utah State's men's basketball team has a lot to be thankful for.
 
The Aggies are still undefeated on the young season, and the stellar play of junior guard Steven Ashworth is a big reason why.
 
Such was the case Tuesday night inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Ashworth poured in both a game- and career-high 30 points, including a personal 10-0 run that broke a 77-all tie and propelled Utah State to a 95-85 victory over Oral Roberts.
 
In 26 minutes off the bench, Ashworth shot 9-for-11 from the field, including a sizzling 8-for-9 from 3-point range, and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. The native of Alpine, Utah, was one of five Aggies to score in double figures, along with grad senior forwards Taylor Funk (18 points) and Dan Akin (12), senior guard Rylan Jones (10) and junior guard Max Shulga (10).
 
Shulga flirted with a triple-double as he also grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and handed out a career-best seven assists. Jones also had seven dimes for the Aggies (5-0), who racked up 25 assists on 29 made field goals.
 
The Golden Eagles (3-3) also had five players score in double figures, led by Isaac McBride, who had 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Connor Vanover added 18 points and 12 rebounds, Max Abmas had 17 points and Karee Thompson and Carlos Jrgens each contributed 11.
 
The two teams combined to shoot 33-of-62 (.532) from beyond the arc. Utah State was 19 of 31 from long range and needed just one more make to tie the school record.
 
A 3-pointer by Ashworth gave the Aggies a 77-69 lead with 6:08 remaining in the second half. Oral Roberts used an 8-0 run to square the game at 77-apiece, setting up Ashworth's late-game heroics.
 
After Ashworth put Utah State up by 10, the closest Oral Roberts got the rest of the way was 90-85 with 30 seconds remaining following a layup by McBride.
 
With Ashworth leading the way, the Aggie reserves outscored their counterparts on the opposite bench 49-9. USU also outrebounded ORU 38-29 and scored 25 points off of 15 turnovers by the Golden Eagles.
 
A jumper courtesy of Ashworth – who else, right? – gave Utah State a 37-23 lead with 5:12 remaining in the opening half. Twice the Aggies led by 14 during the first 20 minutes of play, but went into the halftime break with a 49-40 advantage.
 
Utah State ended the night shooting 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field, including 61.3 percent from beyond the arc (19-of-31), and 78.3 percent from the free throw line (18-of-23.).
 
Oral Roberts shot 45.5 percent from the floor (30-of-66), including 45.2 percent from beyond the arc (14-of-31), and 91.7 percent from the charity stripe (11-of-12).
 
NEXT GAME
 
The Aggies wrap up their brief two-game homestand on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m., when Utah State welcomes Utah Tech (2-3) to the Spectrum. Tickets can be purchased here.
 
For more information on Utah State's men's basketball program, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @usubasketball, on Facebook at usumensbasketball and on Instagram at usubasketball. Fans can also watch USU men's basketball highlights by visiting youtube.com/utahstateathletics.
 
-USU-