Utah State suffered a heart-breaking loss to Weber State last time out, missing a chance for program history and ending its undefeated run to start the season. But the Aggies (9-1) have a chance to right the wrongs of that loss with a three-game tournament run that starts with a matchup against Seattle (8-2). If they win every game, it’ll put the team right back on track heading into conference play.
How to watch
- Tip-off: 3:00 p.m. MT
- Location: Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sherriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai’i
- Broadcast: ESPNU
- Aggie GameDay Coverage on KVNU (102.1 FM/610 AM & KVNU mobile app): 2:00 p.m. MT
- KVNU Aggie Call (102.1 FM/610 AM, KVNU mobile app): Immediately after game ends
Injuries
Utah State
No injuries reportedSeattle
No injuries reportedProjected Starters
Utah State (9-1)
- G – Rylan Jones (6-0, Jr.) – 4.7 points | 1.0 rebounds | 3.9 assists
- G – Max Shulga (6-4, Jr.) – 12.4 points | 5.7 rebounds | 5.0 assists
- G/F – Sean Bairstow (6-8, Sr.) – 10.1 points | 4.1 rebounds | 2.2 assists
- F – Taylor Funk (6-9, Gr.) – 15.6 points | 8.3 rebounds | 2.1 assists
- C – Trevin Dorius (7-0, Sr.) – 4.3 points | 3.1 rebounds | 0.2 assists
- 6th Man – Steven Ashworth (6-1, Jr..) – 18.2 points | 2.5 rebounds | 4.8 assists
Seattle (8-2)
- G – Cameron Tyson (6-2, Jr.) – 19.9 points | 5.3 rebounds | 0.3 assists
- G – Alex Schumacher (6-3, Jr.) – 10.9 points | 3.9 rebounds | 3.3 assists
- G – Riley Grigsby (6-6, Sr.) – 11.7 points | 3.7 rebounds | 2.0 assists
- F – Emeka Udenyi (6-6, So.) – 3.9 points | 4.9 rebounds | 2.3 assists
- C – Brandton Chatfield (6-10, So.) – 6.7 points | 5.2 rebounds | 0.7 assists
- 6th Man – Paris Dawson (6-2, So.) – 9.6 points | 2.6 rebounds | 2.3 assists
Team Statistical Ranks
Stats and ratings are from Basketball Reference (except the NET ranking). All ranks are out of 363 Division I teams.
Utah State
- Pace – 72.9 (49th)
- Offensive Rating – 117.3 (4th)
- Defensive Rating – 98.0 (173rd)
- Field Goal % – 50.1 (17th)
- 3-point % – 44.7 (1st)
- Rebounding % – 53.6 (75th)
- NET Rank – 24th
Seattle
- Pace – 71.7 (80th)
- Offensive Rating – 108.5 (103rd)
- Defensive Rating – 91.7 (56th)
- Field Goal % – 43.9 (216th)
- 3-point % – 35.5 (121st)
- Rebounding % – 54.4 (56th)
- NET Rank – 118th
The first opponent in the Hawaii Tournament for Utah State will provide a tough, likely underrated test. The Redhawks are one of the best defensive teams the Aggies will have faced, matched only by Bradley. Perhaps there’s some room for optimism given Utah State put up 84 points on Bradley. Still, after Weber State put out the game of its life defensively (at least in the second half), Seattle may be in a position to replicate the Wildcats’ success. The Aggies will have no easy recourse for scoring in this outing. They’ll have to once again prove they are the offensive juggernaut we saw the first nine games of the season.
Utah State will also have to deal with the Curse of Cam, the completely made up curse related to the fact the Aggies have repeatedly allowed players with the first name of Cam (or Cameron) to dominate for at least portions of games against them. Previous guys named Cam who have performed well against USU include Loyola Marymount’s Cameron Shelton (25 points), Utah Tech’s Cameron Gooden (29 points) and Utah Valley’s Cam Alford (13 points). Seattle’s leading scorer at 19.9 points per game is one Cameron Tyson.
This may also be the game that the Aggies return to its original starting lineup with Rylan Jones at point guard. Steven Ashworth has started the last four games, three of those being when Jones was out with a concussion. Last time out Jones made his return, but came off the bench. Though with Ashworth continuing to be the team’s leading scorer, head coach Ryan Odom may decide to keep going with Ashworth as the starter and bring Jones off the bench.
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