LOGAN, Utah – No. 16 Utah State men's basketball (17-2, 5-1 MW) bounced right back into the win column with an 83-62 victory over Fresno State (8-10, 1-4 MW) inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday afternoon.
Utah State's 5-1 start to Mountain West play is its second-best in its 11 years in the league trailing only the 2020-21 team that started MW play with a 9-0 record. The 17-2 start to the season is the sixth-best in school history behind the 2008-09 (25-2), the 2010-11 (22-2), the 2003-04 (20-2), the 2000-01 (18-2) and the 1959-60 (18-2) teams.
Four Aggies scored in double figures on Saturday, with junior wing
Great Osobor leading the way with a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard
Ian Martinez added 14 points and graduate senior guard
Darius Brown II had 11, while junior guard
Josh Uduje scored 12 points off the bench. Martinez also logged a career-high six assists.
After some back and forth to open the first half, an Osobor and-1 gave the Aggies the 32-20 edge with 5:45 to go. The teams traded buckets until a Martinez jumper and Osobor layup gave the Aggies the 40-27 lead heading into the half.
Fresno State trimmed the margin to four early in the second half, but an 8-2 Aggie run, capped by a Martinez layup, extended the lead back out to double digits at 49-39. A 10-0 USU spurt, bookended by a pair of Brown buckets, later put Utah State on top 73-51 with just under four minutes to go. The Aggies maintained the gap as a jumper from freshman forward
Karson Templin sealed the 83-62 victory.
Three Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by senior Isaiah Pope with 16 points, while senior Isaiah Hill logged a game-high 10 assists.
Overall, USU shot 55.0 percent (33-of-60) from the field, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from deep and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) at the free throw line. Fresno State shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the field, 28.0 percent (7-of-25) from behind the arc and 77.8 percent (7-of-9) at the charity stripe.
Utah State next takes on Boise State on the road on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 2 p.m., in a game broadcast on the Mountain West Network.
Season tickets for the 2023-24 men's basketball season are 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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