LOGAN — Utah State's Mark Brown wasn't having his best night Thursday against Cal Poly. He had just four points through the first 26 minutes and wasn't shooting the ball particularly well.
That didn't stop him from shooting though.
With the Aggies holding a slim lead, Brown drilled a three-pointer, which not only broke the Aggies out of a scoring slump, but it also broke him out of one.
"I was open, I took a shot and it went down," Brown said. "Our outside shots weren't really falling (Thursday). But we had key baskets at the right time."
Brown scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the final 14 minutes in leading the No. 24 Aggies to the 57-43 victory over the Mustangs.
It was the seventh time this year Brown scored in double figures this season and the 20th time in his career.
On a night when Cardell Butler hit just 3-of-10 shots, Chris Huber 2-of-7 and Jason Williams just 1-of-4, Brown connected on 5-of-8 and 3-for-3 from the line.
The Aggies shot 46.5 percent from the floor, and took almost half their shots (19) from behind the three-point line.
Despite the offensive woes, the Aggies finished the game on a 17-2 run en route to their 15th consecutive win.
"Our defense stepped up," Brown said. "We were sticking together at home and on the road. We know we're going to get everyone's best night night-in and night-out."
The Aggies host Santa Barbara this afternoon at 4 p.m. in a game that will be televised on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain.
The Gauchos (12-7, 6-4) are coming off a stunning 57-45 loss at Idaho Thursday night. The Aggies won the first meeting between the two schools 74-67 on Jan. 8.
Branduinn Fullove is the only Gaucho to score in double figures at 10.1 points per game, while Casey Cook and Joe See average 9.9 and 8.3 points, respectively.
COLD AGGIES?: With their sub-.500 shooting Thursday night, the Aggies have shot below 50 percent in their last four games. The Aggies were third in the nation in team field goal percentage (50.9) heading into Thursday's game.
HALFTIME SUCCESS: The Aggies are 15-0 this season and 102-7 over the last five years when leading at the half.
KEEP ON ROLLING: Utah State has won 14 straight home games and climbed to 81-7 under coach Stew Morrill in games played at the Smith Spectrum.
Aggies on the air
UC Santa Barbara (12-7, 6-4) at No. 24 Utah State (18-1, 10-0)
Today, 4 p.m., Smith Spectrum
TV: Fox Sports Net
Radio: 610 AM (Logan) 860 AM (SLC)
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com