GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands — Utah State men's basketball (3-1, 0-0 MW) won its first contest of the Cayman Islands Classic, defeating Marshall (1-2, 0-0 SB) 83-60 on Sunday in John Gray Gym.
 
Junior wing Great Osobor led the way for USU with 18 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Senior guard Ian Martinez scored 15 points for USU off the bench, while three Aggies scored 11 points in graduate guard Darius Brown II, redshirt freshman guard Mason Falslev and junior guard Josh Uduje.
 
To start the contest, USU built a 13-4 lead on an 11-2 run starting two minutes into the game. Along with stops in the paint, two steal-and-scores by graduate wing Max Agbonkpolo contributed to the scoring stretch. On the other end, Utah State forced seven first-half turnovers, scoring nine points off of turnovers. The Aggies finished the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 39-26 lead into the locker room. Osobor had a first-half double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Over the first six minutes of the second half, Marshall rallied back into the contest with a 9-0 run, but Martinez and Agbonkpolo responded for the Aggies on back-to-back buckets to push the lead back to 50-43. Midway through the half, the Thundering Herd again put the game within four points, 52-48, but Falslev answered with a 3-pointer and an alley-oop layup to once again provide breathing room for the Aggies, 57-50. Down the stretch, USU left no doubt as they pulled away with a pair of Osobor and-ones, two thunderous ally-oop dunks from junior forward Kalifa Sakho and eight made free throws from Brown, Martinez and Uduje as the Aggies outscored the Thundering Herd 22-6 over the final seven minutes.
 
Utah State finished the game shooting 54.5% (30-of-55) from the field, including 28.6% (4-of-14) from deep, and converted 67.9% (19-of-28) of their free-throw opportunities.
 
Graduate guard Kevon Voyles led the effort for Marshall with 17 points, two rebounds and an assist. The Thundering Herd shot 35.0% (21-of-60) from the field, 22.2% (4-of-18) from downtown and 66.7% (14-of-21) from the charity stripe.
 
Utah State returns to action on Monday, Nov. 20, when it faces the winner of the FIU-Akron game at 5:30 p.m. (MT). The game will be broadcast on FloHoops.
 
Season tickets for the 2023-24 men's basketball season are already on sale and can be purchased by visiting www.utahstateaggies.com or by calling the Utah State ticket office at 1-888-USTATE-1.
 
Utah State men's basketball news and information is available on Facebook (facebook.com/usumensbasketball), on Twitter (@usubasketball) and on Instagram (@usubasketball). Fans can also get USU men's basketball highlights on YouTube (youtube.com/utahstateathletics). Aggie fans can follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter (@usuathletics), on Facebook (facebook.com/usuathletics) or on Instagram (@usuathletics).
 
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