LOGAN, Utah – Utah State’s men’s basketball team ushered in the Danny Sprinkle era with a resounding 101-48 victory against Division II South Dakota Mines in its season opener on Monday night inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. In fact, USU’s 53-point win is tied for its 11th-largest in school history.
Sprinkle, the 21st head coach in program history, became the 14th coach to win his first game for the Aggies.
Four Aggies scored in double-figures led by junior guard Josh Uduje, who finished with 19 points on 8-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Uduje, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, becomes the 11th player in school history to not miss a shot when making at least eight baskets and the first to accomplish the feat since Gary Wilkinson during the 2007-08 campaign.
Redshirt freshman guard Mason Falslev, a Cache Valley native, began his Aggie career with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while adding five rebounds, five assists and four steals in 24 minutes. Junior wing Great Osobor, a transfer from Montana State, added 14 points and nine rebounds, while graduate senior guard Darius Brown II, another Montana State transfer, had 10 points and seven assists.
All 11 Aggies that played in the game scored at least four points.
South Dakota Mines did score the opening basket and led 6-3 early on. From there it was all Utah State as the Aggies used a 16-0 run to take a 19-6 lead with 13:11 to play in the half. The Aggie advantage eventually swelled to 20 points at 37-17 following a Brown basket with 5:42 to play and USU went into the locker room with a convincing 51-25 lead.
Utah State scored the first two baskets of the second half to make the score 55-25. USU then scored 19-straight points, which were part of a 29-7 run, as it took a commanding 84-32 lead with 8:28 remaining. USU’s largest lead of the night was 58 points as it led 97-39 and later 101-43 before the Hardrockers scored the final five points of the game.
Utah State finished the game shooting 62.9 percent (39-of-62), including 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from 3-point range and 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from the free throw line. USU also had a 47-21 rebounding advantage and finished the game with 26 assists and just 11 turnovers, while posting 13 steals.
Alejandro Rama was the only double-figure scorer for South Dakota Mines as he finished the game with 19 points on 9-of-18 shooting, which included just 1-of-7 from behind the arc. The Hardrockers shot just 28.6 percent (16-of-56) from the field, including 16.0 percent (4-of-25) from 3-point range, and was 12-of-14 (.857) from the free throw line.
Utah State returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 11, when it plays at Bradley at 6 p.m. (MT). The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Season tickets for the 2023-24 men’s basketball season are already on sale and can be purchased by visiting www.utahstateaggies.com or by calling the Utah State ticket office at 1-888-USTATE-1.
Utah State men’s basketball news and information is available on Facebook (facebook.com/usumensbasketball), on Twitter (@usubasketball) and on Instagram (@usubasketball). Fans can also get USU men’s basketball highlights on YouTube (youtube.com/utahstateathletics). Aggie fans can follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter (@usuathletics), on Facebook (facebook.com/usuathletics) or on Instagram (@usuathletics).
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