Utah Tech UTTECH 3-5,0-0 WAC

Utah St. USU 6-0,0-0 Mountain West

Utah Tech UTTECH

3-5,0-0 WAC

Final

Dec. 01, 2022

Utah St. USU

6-0,0-0 Mountain West

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Utah Tech UTTECH	36	45	81
Utah St. USU	36	50	86

Box Score

Garett Graf/USU Athletics

Utah State Remains Undefeated with 86-81 Victory Over Utah Tech

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 12/1/2022 9:51:00 PM

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's basketball (6-0, 0-0 MW) remains unbeaten after the Aggies posted an 86-81 victory over the Utah Tech Trailblazers (3-5, 0-0 WAC) on Thursday night inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Steven Ashworth led the Aggies with 27 points off the bench, marking the third time this season the junior guard has scored over 25 points in a game. Graduate forward Taylor Funk had a loaded stat line with 20 points, eight rebounds and a career-high-tying seven assists to go along with one block and a steal.

Junior guard Max Shulga posted his second-straight, and second-career, double-double with 10 points and a career-best 10 assists. He is the first Aggie to have a double-double with assists since Sam Merrill had 16 points and 10 assists at San Diego State on Feb. 1, 2020.

Dan Akin rounded out the double-figure scoring for USU as the grad forward scored 15 points off the bench.

It was a tight first half as neither team led by more than three points in the stanza. A pair of Shulga free throws gave Utah State a 36-33 lead with under a minute to play, but Utah Tech converted three free throws at the end of the period to even it at 36-apiece at the break.

After the Trailblazers took a five-point lead to open the second half, a 9-0 Aggie run gave Utah State a 45-41 advantage with 17:25 to go. The teams continued to trade leads until Utah Tech took its final advantage of the game at 52-50 with 11:45 left to play.

The Aggies scored eight-straight points after a Shulga jumper and 3s from Ashworth and senior guard RJ Eytle-Rock for the 58-52 edge with just under 10 minutes to go and USU never surrendered its lead again. Utah State took its largest advantage of the night at 67-57 with 6:43 to play after a Funk triple, Akin slam and Shulga free throws. Utah Tech trimmed the margin to five, but the Aggies went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final 36 seconds of play for the 86-81 win.

Overall, Utah State shot 54.5 percent (30-of-55) from the field, 41.9 percent (13-of-31) from behind the arc and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) at the free throw line. Utah Tech shot 48.1 percent (25-of-52) from the floor, 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from behind the 3-point line and 79.2 percent (19-of-24) at the charity stripe.

NEXT GAME

Utah State next travels to San Francisco, California, to take on San Francisco (7-1) at the Chase Center on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 6:30 p.m. (MT).

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-

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