Box Score SANTA CLARA, California — Utah State men's basketball (10-1, 0-0 MW) wrapped up its non-conference road slate with an 84-82 win over Santa Clara (7-4, 0-0 WCC) Wednesday evening at the Leavey Center.
Led by a career-best 28-point scoring performance by senior guard Ian Martinez, the Aggies picked up their ninth-straight win to improve to 10-1 overall, matching the team's best start to a year since the 2012-13 season. This is also the best coaching start in program history for first-year head coach Danny Sprinkle, who surpassed the previous best mark of 9-1, set by Ladell Andersen in 1961-62.
After getting off to a sluggish offensive start and making just one of its first 11 shots of the night, Utah State relied on defense as it forced 10 Santa Clara turnovers in the first 20 minutes of action to remain in the contest. Martinez sparked the Aggie offense as he matched his season-high of 15 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in just 16 first-half minutes.
Graduate guard Darius Brown II also got off to a strong start for USU, going for 11 points in the first half as Aggies made eight of their final nine shots of the half to hit the locker room with a 43-43 tie. Brown would be the second Utah State player to finish with 20-plus points as he finished the night with a season-high 23 points to go along with four boards and a team-high seven assists.
The second half featured nine ties and seven lead changes as the teams exchanged baskets throughout. The Aggies opened up their largest lead of the contest with an 80-75 advantage with 1:03 remaining, and remained on top with four made free throws by Martinez in the final 21 seconds.
On the night, Utah State scored 21 points off of 19 Santa Clara turnovers, while committing just nine turnovers itself. The Aggies tallied 10 steals, including four from Brown and three from Martinez.
The Aggies dominated the offensive glass, bringing down a season-high 17 offensive boards while limiting the Broncos to just four. Junior Wing Great Osobor led the team's rebounding efforts with 10 boards to go along with nine points, as he fell just a point shy of his sixth double-double of the season.
USU shot 37.3 percent (28-of-75) from the field, 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from downtown and 68.0 (17-of-25) at the charity stripe. The Broncos shot 57.1 percent (32-of-56) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from 3-point range and 76.9 percent (10-of-13) at the free-throw line.
Santa Clara was paced by Adama Bal, who finished the night with a team-high 18 points.
Next up, the Aggies will face San Francisco in a neutral site contest at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 2 p.m.
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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