LOGAN, Utah – Utah State and the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum were too much for San Jose State men's basketball as they fell to the Aggies, 103-73 on Wednesday.
The loss put a damper on another big shooting performance from junior forward Michael Steadman, who finished with a team-high 20 points and six rebounds. It is the second-straight game Steadman has scored at least 20 points and the third time doing so this season.
In a trend that has persisted throughout conference play this season, it was a large run that put the game out of reach. San Jose State (3-17, 0-8) started off well trailing by just three at the 12:19 mark as Steadman scored his first points off the bench on a layup, however that was the last bucket the Spartans would hit for the next 7:35 of play as Utah State went on an 18-3 run. Six of the Spartans' 11 first half turnovers came during the stretch. The Aggies' Sam Merrill hit a deep 3-point bucket as time as expired to put a cap on the half and send the game to the locker room 51-33.
SJSU made some adjustments and played better in the second half as they tallied just six turnovers and shot 50 percent (14-of-28) to close out the game, however the deficit was too much to overcome.
The Aggies (16-5, 6-2) became the first team since 2011 (Boise State, 102-101 4OT) to score 100 points against the Spartans. It was the first time SJSU allowed 100 points in a regulation game since Cal State Fullerton in December, 2006.
Despite the lopsided score, the Spartans performed well in several key categories, most notably finishing just three rebounds shy of one of the top rebounding teams in the conference as they entered the game with a plus-10.4 rebounding margin. SJSU had 35 to the Aggies' 38. Turnovers once again proved costly, however, as the Spartans finished with 17 while Utah State tallied eight. The Aggies were able to turn those turnovers into 24 points.
Noah Baumann continued his strong play against the Aggies. After scoring a career-high 29 points in the first meeting of the year, the sophomore scored 14 of his 15 points in the first half and extended his consecutive streak of games with a made 3-pointer to 18.
Merrill led all scorers with 29 points while Brock Miller poured on 14 of his own. The Aggies shot 48.6 percent for the game to the Spartans' 45.5. Utah State finished 22-of-24 from the charity stripe while SJSU struggled once again, finishing 18-for-27.
The Spartans return to action Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PT as they welcome San Diego State to the Event Center.
