3 keys in the Utah State Aggies’ 64-59 win over the San Diego State Aztecs

Utah State rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and made several clutch plays down the stretch in earning a sweep over San Diego State with a 64-59 win at the Spectrum in Logan on Saturday.

Jordan Schakel missed a 3-point attempt with 15 seconds left that would have tied the game, and the Aggies held on for their second straight win over the defending Mountain West Conference regular-season champs. It’s the first time Utah State (11-3, 8-0 MWC) has swept San Diego State (9-4, 3-3 MWC) in conference regular-season play.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

• True freshman Steven Ashworth, who went into the game averaging 6.5 points per contest, led the Aggies with a career-high 17 points, including a pair of free throws with two seconds left to push it to a five-point lead. He hit three 3-pointers and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Neemias Queta had another big game, putting up a double-double with 10 point and 10 rebounds while adding five blocks and four assists before fouling out with 2:26 to play. 

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• Both teams had big runs on opposite sides of the half. Utah State didn’t score in the final 4:55 of the first half and was outscored 22-5 to end the first 20 minutes, as they went into halftime down 32-22. The Aggies responded with a 17-5 run to start the second half to get back into the game and made 17 of 20 free throws in the second half, compared to 5 of 8 for SDSU. Utah State made 19 of 25 free throws in the game, while the Aztecs were just 7 of 15 from the free-throw line. 
• Utah State, which is now tied atop the MWC standings with Boise State with an 8-0 league mark, had 12 turnovers in the first half, but significantly cut down on that in the second half. The Aggies finished with 16 turnovers, while San Diego State had 12. USU scored off an Aztec turnover with under 1:30 to play to extend its lead to 59-56.