Utah State guard Rylan Jones (15) directs his team in the first half during an NCAA college basketball game against BYU Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, in Provo, Utah. (Rick Bowmer, Associated Press)
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SAN JOSE — On paper, Utah State basketball’s final game of the regular season Friday night didn’t have much significance.
Prior to the game, the Aggies had already secured the No. 7 seed in the Mountain West Tournament, where they’re set to play Air Force in the first round on Wednesday in Las Vegas. A result against the bottom team in the league, San Jose State, wouldn’t change any of that.
But for Utah State, internally, the visit to the Bay Area to play San Jose State was critical. It was a final in-game opportunity to sync together and build some confidence as a unit before the postseason.
And the Aggies did just that.
After leading by just 2 points at halftime, Utah State began to click offensively and dominated the second half en route to a 75-52 win over the Spartans.
“I thought our guys did a nice job overall,” Utah State head coach Ryan Odom said. “End of the regular season now and obviously the focus turns to the conference tournament.”
The two most reliable players for the Aggies offense both produced, too. Justin Bean had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 11 rebounds, and Brandon Horvath had 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting and eight rebounds.
After averaging just 62 points in the last four games, the Aggies’ focus was to get offensive production from someone other than their two leading scorers. And despite missing starting guard Steven Ashworth, who was out with a hip injury, and Brock Miller, other Utah State players stepped up.
Sean Bairstow had 13 points, Max Shulga had 11 points, Rylan Jones added 8 points and RJ Etyle Rock finished with 7 points. As a team, Utah State shot 52% from the field and 50% from 3-point range.
The production was a byproduct of ball movement; the Aggies had 18 assists, accounting for 64% of their made shots. They also outrebounded San Jose State 42-24 and forced 16 turnovers, both of which helped the team score in transition.
“I thought it was a really balanced scoring attack,” Bean said. “The best way to get everyone involved is just to run in transition. I thought that was a huge key to the game. … We’re really unselfish when we can get could spacing and really spread the defense out like.”
“Obviously it helps when you’re making shots, but you actually have to get some clean looks,” Odom said. “I thought our guys did a nice job of really searching out there and finding guys in timely moments. Bean shot it well, Max gave us a big lift, Rylan was great.”
The first half was tight as the Spartans outscored the Aggies in the paint, and Utah State turned the ball and missed several looks around the rim. San Jose State forward Shon Robinson led the home team with 9 first-half points, but Horvath’s 8 points and made 3-pointers from Shulga and Jones gave the Aggies the lead at the break.
From there, Utah State’s offense got rolling in the second half.
Three minutes in, Bean swung the ball across to Etyle-Rock, who immediately dished it to Jones, who buried an open 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 9-point lead.
San Jose State went on a 9-4 run, but Bairstow found Bean for a dunk before back-to-back 3-pointers by Bean to give the Aggies a 15-point lead with just under 10 minutes left to play. Bean finished with 15 second-half points, which was a major boost to a 47-point second half effort from the Aggies.
It’d be a night for the history books for Bean, who recorded his 45th career double-double, which ties him with former Aggie Greg Grant for second all-time in Utah State history and Nevada’s Jordan Caroline for second all-time in Mountain West history.
Coming on late in the second half was Shulga, who finished the game 3 of 3 from beyond the arc; and his 3-pointer off a Bean assist with 4:34 left gave Utah State a 66-47 lead.
“Max was incredible tonight,” Odom said. “I thought his defense was excellent when he came in and then he began to get going offensively in the second half.”
Odom said he was impressed with Shulga, a Kyiv, Ukraine, native, and his composure amid the invasion of his native country.
“With all Max is going through right now … for him to even be able to play is an amazing thing,” Odom said.
The Aggies, who finished the regular season 17-14, must win the Mountain West Tournament if they want to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. To do that, it’ll require winning four games in four days at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. Their approach will be to take it one game at a time.
“We’ve got to go all-in on Game 1,” Odom said. “That’s got to be our primary focus. We can’t worry about who our next opponent is; we can’t worry about down the line and what we’re playing for. We’ve got to focus on playing a game at a time and an opponent at a time and that’s really all that it comes down to.”
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