LOGAN, Utah (AP)-Saturday, Utah State men’s basketball (12-2, 2-0 in Mountain West Conference play) hosts Eastern Oregon (7-6, 1-3 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play) of the NAIA in a non-conference tilt at the Spectrum.
Aggies head coach Craig Smith (40-9, .816 at Utah State; 119-64, .650) is excelling in his second season at Logan. The Aggies are also 21-1 (.955) at home under Smith, including a 12-0 mark against non-conference opponents.
Utah State scores 78.4 points per game, ranking the Aggies 57th nationally in scoring offense. The Aggies rank second nationally in total rebounds (591) and made free throws (238).
The Aggies are 7th nationally in rebounding margin (+10.0, 42.2-32.2) per game and ninth in the country in total assists (225).
Utah State is 8-0 on the season when they shoot a better percentage than their opponents and also 8-0 in games when they shoot better than their foes behind the 3-point line.
Senior guard Sam Merrill (17.7 points, 5.4 rebounds per game) remains the Aggies’ standout on the season.
Sophomore forward Justin Bean (13.9 points, a team-best 11.4 rebounds per game and a team-best 17 blocked shots) and junior forward Alphonso Anderson (11.6 points per game) also score in double figures on average for Utah State per game.
Junior guard Abel Porter leads the squad with 55 assists and senior guard, Portuguese national Diogo Brito, has a team-best 24 steals.
Utah State surrenders 61.9 points per game, ranking the Aggies 43rd nationally in scoring defense.
The LaGrande, Ore.-based Mountaineers are coached by second-year head coach Carlito LaBarda Jr. who is presently 22-21 (.512) at the helm of the program.
The high-scoring Mountaineers score 102.1 points per game.
Junior guard Max McCullough (20.6 points, 5.6 rebounds per game, team bests in assists [63] and steals [10]), senior center Jarek Schetzle (19.1 points, team-bests in rebounds (10.8 per game) and blocked shots (28), junior guard Jamal Heckard (16.3 points per game), senior guard Landon Jones (15.7 points, 9.5 rebounds per game and junior guard Josh Brown (11.9 points per game) all score in double figures on average for Eastern Oregon.
The Mountaineers surrender 89.2 points per game.
The Aggies lead Eastern Oregon 2-0 all-time.
