LOGAN, Utah – Utah State men's basketball reached triple digits for the third game in a row, marking only the second such streak in program history, with a 117-53 win over Westminster on Wednesday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Six Aggies scored in double figures, led by graduate guard
Ian Martinez with 24 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a 7-of-9 mark from 3-point range. Graduate guard
Dexter Akanno added 17 points while sophomore forward
Karson Templin set a career-high with 16 points off the bench. Sophomore guard
Mason Falslev, sophomore wing
Tucker Anderson and freshman guard
Jordy Barnes rounded out USU's double-digit scorers with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
After a slow start in which the Aggies scored only four points in the first three minutes, the offense ignited, scoring 23 points over the ensuing five minutes. Utah State pushed its lead to 20 points at the 11:42 mark when Templin hit a 3-pointer at the top of the arc, but the Aggies refused to relent offensively as the team added runs of 7-0, 9-0 and 10-0 en route to a 65-point first half and a 40-point lead entering the locker rooms.
Out of halftime, USU continued to force the issue. After playing to a near-draw in the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second half, Utah State's offense again erupted with a 14-2 run spanning less than three minutes. The Aggies hit a trio 3s as part of the onslaught as Akanno, graduate guard
Drake Allen and Martinez hit the treys to extend USU's advantage beyond 50 points with over eight minutes remaining. Falslev later hit another triple to cap off a 31-7 run which catapulted the Aggies to a 60-point lead with four minutes remaining. Utah State's margin grew as large as 67 following a dunk from senior guard
Deyton Albury in the final minute before a Griffin 3-pointer brought the game to its final margin of 117-53.
After posting a 101-46 win over Alcorn State and a 103-74 win over Charlotte, the Aggies have scored over 100 points in three-straight games for only the third time in program history, joining the 1967-68 and 1972-73 squads. This is the first time in which USU has opened a season with three-straight games breaking the century mark.
USU shot 42-of-66 (63.6 percent) from the field, the team's best shooting night since shooting 64.0 percent against UNLV in February of 2022. Utah State also went 17-of-31 from 3-point territory, with the 17 3-pointers standing as the most by the Aggies since hitting 18 triples against Colorado State during the 2022-23 campaign. USU also had 28 assists, making it three-straight games in which the Aggies have registered at least 24 assists to begin the season. Albury led the team with six assists, while both Falslev and Allen finished with five helpers.
Defensively, the Aggies held the Griffins to 21-of-60 (35.0 percent) shooting overall. Utah State had a season-high 16 steals, which is tied for the second-most in a single game in school history, trailing only the team's mark of 19 steals against Pacific in 1984. USU forced a total of 24 turnovers while surrendering possession only nine times themselves, winning the points-off-turnovers battle, 47-17.
The Aggies also won on the glass, outrebounding the Griffins, 38-29. Senior forward
Aubin Gateretse led the team with seven rebounds while both Albury and Templin recorded six boards.
UP NEXT
Utah State welcomes Montana (2-2, 0-0 Big Sky) to the Spectrum on Monday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on KMYU and streamed on the Mountain West Network.
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For more information on Utah State's men's basketball program, follow the Aggies on Facebook at usumensbasketball, on Twitter at @usubasketball and on Instagram at @usubasketball. Fans can also watch USU men's basketball highlights by visiting youtube.com/utahstateathletics.
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