Photo by Clint Allen
LOGAN – Utah State’s 8-0 start this year is tied for the second-best ever start to an Aggie men’s basketball season alongside the 1961-62 season. A win over Westminster on Thursday would tie this year’s team with the 1917-18 and 1938-39 seasons where the Aggies started 9-0.
How to watch
- Tip-off: 7 p.m. MT
- Location: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum | Logan, UT
- Broadcast: Mountain West Network
- Aggie GameDay Coverage on KVNU (102.1 FM/610 AM & KVNU mobile app): 6 p.m. MT
- KVNU Aggie Call (102.1 FM/610 AM, KVNU mobile app): Immediately after game ends
Injuries
Utah State
- G – Rylan Jones – OUT (Concussion)
- F – Taylor Funk – QUESTIONABLE (ankle)
Jones has missed the previous two games with a concussion and will remain out on Thursday. Funk twisted his ankle in practice and will be a game-time decision.
Westminster
No reported injuries
Projected Starters
Utah State (8-0)
- G – Steven Ashworth (6-1, Jr.) – 18.6 points | 2.5 rebounds | 4.8 assists
- G – Max Shulga (6-4, Jr.) – 12.9 points | 6.0 rebounds | 4.6 assists
- G/F – Sean Bairstow (6-8, Sr.) – 8.9 points | 4.3 rebounds | 1.8 assists
- F – Taylor Funk (6-9, Gr.) – 16.3 points | 8.8 rebounds | 2.3 assists
- C – Trevin Dorius (7-0, Sr.) – 4.5 points | 3.5 rebounds | 0.3 assists
- 6th Man – Dan Akin (6-9, Gr.) – 13.8 points | 7.1 rebounds | 0.6 assists
Westminster (2-9)
- G – Jeremy Dowdell (6-2, Fr.) – 11.0 points | 1.8 rebounds | 1.0 assists
- G – Taylor Miller (6-2, Sr.) – 9.9 points | 2.8 rebounds | 2.6 assists
- G – Donaval Avila (6-3, Jr.) – 10.9 points | 5.1 rebounds | 1.4 assists
- F – Drake Middleton (6-6, So.) – 7.0 points | 4.0 rebounds | 1.5 assists
- F/C – Trey Farrer (6-9, Jr.) – 18.4 points | 8.2 rebounds | 1.9 assists
Team Statistical Ranks
Utah State’s ranks are out of 363 Division I teams. Westminster’s ranks are out of 290 Division II teams.
Utah State
- Points per Game – 86.0 (7th)
- Points Allowed – 72.5 (259th)
- Field Goal % – 49.5 (27th)
- 3-point % – 43.7 (1st)
- Rebounds per Game – 38.4 (84th)
- NET Rank – 11th
Westminster
- Points per Game – 71.2 (202)
- Points Allowed – 78.3 (242)
- Field Goal % – 47.0 (72nd)
- 3-point % – 30.6 (241st)
- Rebounds per Game – 34.6 (179th)
- NET Rank – N/A
You don’t get much closer to a slam dunk in terms of winning than this. Utah State is expected to win and very well should. Westminster is a Division II school and the Aggies haven’t lost to a non-Division I school since 1956 with countless wins over non-major schools in between. Over just the last 10 years the Aggies have not only won all 11 game over non-DI opponents, but won by an average of nearly 28 points.
Still, these games are there to be played and there are still reasons to at least pay attention if not watch anyway. It will be an opportunity for the Aggies to improve themselves and prepare for tougher games in the future. There will be more opportunities for end-of-the-bench players, especially with multiple injuries impacting Utah State’s rotation.
Per head coach Ryan Odom, forward Taylor Funk twisted his ankle in practice this week and will be a game-time decision. Should he not play, Odom said Dan Akin would start in his place. While Akin has played 95 percent of his possessions at center this year, he does have some experience in this system playing power forward. In the closed offseason scrimmages, Akin played power forward while Funk sat out with a foot injury. Sean Bairstow could wind up playing the most PF minutes if Funk sits as Bairstow has been the primary backup to Funk this season. Bairstow has played 21 percent of his possessions this season as the nominal power forward of a lineup, a percentage second only to Funk on the team.
Other players are likely to see extended minutes where they haven’t yet this year. And before you get your hopes up for Mason Falslev and Isaac Johnson, remember that both are slated to redshirt this year. The players likely to see a bump in minutes are Szymon Zapala, RJ Eytle-Rock, and Zee Hamoda. The latter two are already rotation players but will likely play close to 30 minutes each with Zapala making his third appearance and possibly play double-digit minutes for the first time this year.
Looking at Westminster itself and eyeing what the actual opponent looks like, the defensive gameplan begins and just about ends with Griffins’ forward/center Trey Farrer, a transfer from Utah Valley. The 6-foot-9 junior leads his team in points (17.7), rebounds (8.2), blocks (1.1), and is second in assists (1.9). He’s able to do all of this damage from inside the arc with good post moves.
“He’s athletic, first and foremost. He’s definitely a Division I player and has done really well for them,” Odom said. “He’s got back-to-the-basket moves. If you allow him to create space for him in there on duck-ins. And they move him around, they screen for him quite a bit. And he’s really good in pick-and-roll. We can’t let him get to his spots as easy. We’ve got to be physical and we’ve got to use our length.”
The other player to watch for is Jeremy Dowdell, a transfer from BYU. Dowdell is actually a former high school teammate of Rylan Jones who averaged 28 points per game as a senior at Olympus High School. He’s currently the second-leading scorer on the team and is a volume 3-point shooter, attempting nearly six per game and making 37.7 percent of them.
Aside from Dowdell, though, Westminster aren’t likely to be attempting too many threes. The Griffins rank 271st (out of 290 DII teams) in 3-point attempts per game. Aside from Dowdell, there isn’t a single player on the team that averages more than 1.0 made threes per game (next-closest to Dowdell is Lewis Johnson who averages 0.9 made threes per game).
