MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica-No. 15 Utah State men’s basketball (5-0 on the season), fresh off of a successful five-game home-stand to start the season, hits the road for the first time by participating in the Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay, Jamaica.

This is the highest ranking for the Aggies since 1970-71 when Utah State was ranked No. 9 nationally. They were ranked as high as No. 7 in 1960.

The Aggies will square off against the LSU Tigers (2-1) Friday and the North Texas Mean Green (1-3) Sunday.

Head coach Craig Smith is 33-7 (.825) having tremendously excelled in his first 40 games at the helm for the Aggies.

The high-scoring Aggies have scored at least 80 points in all of their wins thus far on the season. This is only the sixth time in school history the Aggies have done this and it’s the first time they have done it since the 1986-87 season.

Currently, Utah State is 26th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 86 points per contest.

Senior guard Sam Merrill (17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds per game) continues to be Utah State’s star thus far on the season. He is shooting 27-30 (90 percent) at the foul line as well.

In the stead of injured star sophomore center Neemias Queta, sophomore forward Justin Bean (13.2 points, 11 rebounds per game) has picked up the scoring slack.

Sophomore guard Brock Miller (13 points per game), junior forward Alphonso Anderson (12 points, 6.6 rebounds per game) and Queta’s fellow Portuguese national, senior guard Diogo Brito (11 points per game) all score in double figures for the prolific Aggies. Junior guard Abel Porter has a team-best 23 assists, barely edging Merrill (22 assists) for the team lead.

The Aggies also out-rebound their opponents 234-152 on the season. Utah State has out-rebounded all opponents on the season and are +16.4 on the glass per game (7th in the nation). The Aggies’ 234 rebounds ranks 7th in the nation and their 46.8 rebounds per game rank 8th nationally.

Defensively, Utah State ranks 14th nationally in scoring defense (53.4 points per game) and 12th nationally in field goal percentage defense as opponents shoot only 33.4 percent from the field against them.

Brito leads the Aggies with 11 steals and Polish national, junior center Kuba Karwowski has 11 blocks to lead the squad.

LSU is coached by Will Wade, who is currently 48-23 (.676) in his third season coaching the Tigers at Baton Rouge.

LSU also scores effectively as the Tigers net 81.7 points per game. This ranks them 65th nationally in scoring offense.

Senior guard Skylar Mays (19.7 points, 8 rebounds per game) is the Tigers’ overall statistical leader thus far. Mays also leads the Tigers with 7 steals.

Sophomore forward Emmitt Williams (13.7 points, 7.3 rebounds per game, a team-best 4 blocks), sophomore forward Darius Days (13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds per game), sophomore guard Javonte Smart (13 points, 4.3 rebounds per game, a team-best 13 assists) and freshman forward Trendon Watford (12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds per game) all score in double figures for the Tigers.

LSU surrenders 76 points per game, tying them for 283rd nationally with South Dakota State.

The Aggies lead the Tigers 2-1 all-time while this is the first neutral-court game in series history.  This is the first meeting on the hardwood between these two schools since 1984.

North Texas is coached by Grant McCasland, who is 42-33 (.560) in his third season at the helm of the Mean Green’s program.

Unlike the Aggies and Tigers, North Texas is not a proficient scoring offense as the Mean Green ranks 337th nationally in scoring only 57.3 points per game.

Redshirt sophomore guard Umoja Gibson (9.3 points per game) is North Texas’ leading scorer while also posting a team-best 11 assists.

Junior forward Zachary Simmons (8.5 points, a team-best 8.3 rebounds per game) is another solid contributor for the Mean Green.

The North Texas defense only surrenders 55.3 points per game, tying them for 20th nationally in scoring defense with Texas.

Junior guard James Reese leads the Mean Green with 4 steals while graduate student forward Deng Geu and Reese have two blocks apiece to lead North Texas.

The Aggies have traditionally dominated the Mean Green, leading the all-time series 8-1. North Texas’ only win the series came in 1999 at Denton, Texas when a higher-scoring Mean Green squad prevailed 94-90.