Opening Tips
• Utah State is in the top 10 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.429, 1st), effective field goal percentage (.580, 4th) and 3-pointers made per game ( 10.29, 7th).
• Junior guard
Steven Ashworth is second in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.513), and leads the Mountain West and ranks 10th in the nation in 3s made per game (3.41).
• Utah State is one of 10 teams in the nation with five players averaging double figures in
Ashworth (15.6 ppg), grad forward
Taylor Funk (14.1 ppg), junior guard
Max Shulga (12.2 ppg), grad forward
Dan Akin (12.1 ppg) and senior guard
Sean Bairstow (10.9 ppg).
• Utah State's bench leads the Mountain West and is 14th in the nation in points per game (31.53). An Aggie reserve has led the team in scoring in eight of the 17 games this season.
Ashworth has led the Aggies off the bench five times,
Akin has led the Aggies twice and sophomore forward
Zee Hamoda has led USU twice. Utah State is 13-1 this season and 22-7 all-time under head coach
Ryan Odom when the Aggie reserves outscore their opponents.
• Utah State has recorded all but three of its victories under
Odom (29-7) when winning the battle of the boards. USU has won the rebounding battle in all but four games this season. In total, Utah State has outrebounded opponents 622-538 this season.
• An Aggie has logged a double-double in nine games this season as
Akin has posted five double-doubles (10p/11r vs. Bradley; 21p/15r at San Diego; 12p/10r vs. Weber State; 11p/13r vs. Fresno State; 16p15r vs Wyoming), and
Shulga had three (10p/10r vs. Oral Roberts; 10p/10a vs. Utah Tech; 12p/10r vs Seattle U) and
Funk posted two (18p/14r vs. UVU; 22p/12r vs. Santa Clara).
Akin ranks first in the nation in double-doubles off the bench with five.
• Utah State has scored at least 80 points in 10 of its 17 games, including a season-high 106 points against Westminster. Utah State is 31-8 under
Odom when scoring at least 70 points and is a perfect 22-0 under
Odom when scoring at least 80 points.
• Utah State is 24th in the NCAA net rankings (as of Jan. 11) and is ranked 39th by KenPom. Overall, USU is 0-1 in Quad 1 games, 4-0 in Quad 2, 7-0 in Quad 3 and 2-2 in Quad 4.
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