by: Ashley Springer, USU Athletic Media Relations
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – No. 7 Utah State men's basketball (18-14) led wire-to-wire in the first round of the 2022 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Men's Basketball Championships as USU defeated No. 10 Air Force (11-18) 83-56 on Wednesday.
Utah State improves to 14-6 all-time in the Mountain West men's basketball championship, including a perfect 5-0 mark in opening-round contests. The 27-point margin of victory is the largest in tournament history for Utah State, topping its previous high of 26 in 2017 over San José State.
Senior forward
Brandon Horvath led USU with his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Four more Aggies scored in double figures as senior forward
Justin Bean had 16 points and junior guard
Sean Bairstow, sophomore guard
Steven Ashworth and sophomore guard
Max Shulga each scored 11 points apiece.
After being knotted at 2-2 a little more than two minutes into the game, free throws from Bairstow kickstarted a seven-point run for the Aggies as USU took a 9-2 lead and never looked back.
The Falcons trimmed the edge to 16-15, but an 8-2 run by USU pushed the lead to 24-17 with 8:03 to go in the first. The game went back and forth until layups from senior guard
RJ Eytle-Rock and Horvath, as well as a Bairstow free throw, gave Utah State the 38-27 lead at the half.
Utah State held onto the double-digit lead for the entirety of the second half. A Bairstow one-handed slam and triples from Bean and Shulga gave USU the 67-39 edge with 8:49 to play. USU took its largest lead of the game at 72-41 following a Bean layup with 6:11 remaining.
A 9-2 Air Force run cut the Aggie advantage to 75-53 with 3:17 to go. However, Utah State countered with eight-straight points, capped by a step-back 3 from sophomore guard
Connor Odom, his first collegiate points, giving the Aggies a 30-point edge. The Falcons finished the game with an old fashioned three-point play as Utah State won 83-56.
USU came out hot in the second half shooting 81.0 percent (17-of-21) from the floor, including 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from behind the arc. Bean scored 12 points and was perfect from the floor, 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from deep, over the final 20 minutes of the game.
Utah State finished the game shooting 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field, 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from behind the arc and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) at the free throw line. Air Force shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the floor, 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from behind the 3-point line and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) at the free throw line.
No. 7 Utah State will next take on No. 2 Colorado State (24-4) on Thursday, March 10, at 7 p.m. (MT).
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.