Opening Tips
• Utah State is making its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance in school history (1939, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2023), including its 11th in the last 24 years. USU also qualified for the 2020 NCAA Tournament that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning USU has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in four of its last five seasons.
• Utah State is fifth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.393) and 10th in both effective field goal percentage (.563) and assists per game (16.85). USU also ranks in the top 50 nationally in 3-pointers made per game (9.44, 21st), field goal percentage (.480, 24th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.39, 25th), free throw percentage (.764, 30th), points per game (78.56, 32nd), scoring margin (+8.85, 32nd), defensive rebounds per game (27.03, 33rd) and bench points per game (24.24, 47th).
• Junior guard
Steven Ashworth is sixth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.443), 14th in 3-pointers made per game (3.21), 29th in free throw percentage (.878) and 30th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.66). In fact,
Ashworth is the only player in the nation at the Division I level to rank in the top 30 in each of those categories.
• Utah State is one of 14 teams in the nation with five players averaging double figures in
Ashworth (16.3 ppg), grad forward
Taylor Funk (13.3 ppg), junior guard
Max Shulga (12.1 ppg), grad forward
Dan Akin (12.0 ppg) and senior guard
Sean Bairstow (10.4 ppg).
• On the season, Utah State is 24-2 when shooting better from the field than its opponent, 19-2 when shooting better from 3-point range than its opponent, 22-2 when it outrebounds its opponent, 25-3 when it has more assists than its opponent, 21-3 when its bench outscores its opponent's bench and 22-1 when scoring at least 75 points.
• Utah State head coach
Ryan Odom is coaching in the NCAA Tournament for the second time as he was the head coach at UMBC in 2018 when the Retrievers became the first-ever 16-seed to win a first round game as it posted a 74-54 victory against top overall seed Virginia. Odom also led UMBC to 3-1 record in the 2017 CollegeInsider.com Tournament, becoming the first America East team to win three games in a postseason tournament.
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