Josh Uduje and Darius Brown II
LOGAN — Great Osobor recorded his third 30-point game of the season, powering Utah State to an 82-61 victory over San Jose State to stay atop the Mountain West standings.
Osobor finished with 31 points, seven boards, two assists and a steal while shooting 9 of 15 from the floor and 13 of 19 on free throws. The junior forward said the game was partly the result of keeping an aggressive mindset and forcing teams to guard him.
“I try to stay with that mindset, that confidence that you’re going to have to struggle, really, to guard me,” Osobor said. “I’m pretty confident as a player and I felt like my team put me in good positions to be successful tonight.”
In perhaps the stat of the night, Osobor’s 19 free throws — just three off the USU single-game record set by Marvin Roberts in 1971 — were more than every other player on both teams combined to attempt (14). In fact, the first non-Osobor Aggie to attempt a free throw was a pair of Josh Uduje FTs with 2:52 left in the game.
“He does such a good job of running the floor. He’s so crafty. He’s long and has big hands and is able to finish and he makes enough free throws,” SJSU head coach Tim Miles said. “Utah State drew 16 fouls. He drew 12. That’s just unheard of. We are not a great interior defense and people know that. But he’s a special player.”
Dominant from Osobor aside, Utah State’s offense took a minute or two to really get going. Aside from a first-possession layup, the Aggies struggled to put points on the board early. Not that they weren’t able to hit shots (the lowest USU’s field goal percentage got all night was 48 percent) it’s just they weren’t getting those shots up. Three turnovers in the first three minutes of the game hampered the Aggies’ scoring efforts.
“I didn’t think our energy was great in the first half,” Sprinkle said. “We had a couple guys who were a little sluggish.”
In a splotch on Osobor’s otherwise great night, he had six turnovers himself and the usually sure-handed Darius Brown had three.
“I need to be better, to be honest,” Osobor said. “I had seven (turnovers) against Boise, six today. But I’m getting better with each game. Obviously, I’m getting doubled and triple teamed and I’ve gotta be better for the team and not turn the ball over as much.”
With USU getting in its own way, the Spartans took a 13-7 lead five minutes into the game, hitting a couple of 3-pointers to make it look like SJSU could have a great shooting night. But Utah State settled in.
The Aggies wouldn’t get out of that hole quickly, taking five minutes of game time to tie the game up, but that pace never slowed down and by halftime Utah State was rolling offensively, finishing the last five minutes of the half on a 12-6 run for a 37-30 halftime advantage.
To start the second half, the Aggies went back to Osobor, who’d already tallied 12 points by the break. He scored an additional eight points in the first six minutes of the half. Osobor said he “made a point to let (his teammates) know at halftime” to look for him more and both sides were rewarded for the extra effort to get him the ball in the post.
Those points contributed to Utah State outscoring SJSU 16-6 in those same first six minutes and the onslaught never really stopped. The Aggies piled on with Ian Martinez scoring 16 on the night, going a perfect 4 for 4 on 3-pointers (and 6 of 6 overall) with Darius Brown scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Darius Brown getting a double-double via rebounds makes him the second USU player since 2010 to have a double-double using both points/rebounds and points/assists (Max Shulga)
Don’t have the resources to go back further than 2010, but I suspect there aren’t many others https://t.co/O1BDIRD7C7
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) January 31, 2024
The scoring outburst certainly helped, but according to Sprinkle, defense played much more of a factor in allowing the Aggies to settle in, rally and push ahead. Of particular note was USU’s defense on 3-pointers.
San Jose State entered the night ranking a solid 62nd in the country in 3-point percentage on an average of 25 attempts per game. USU held them below both averages as the Spartans went just 5 of 23 (21.4 percent). The Aggies heavily contested most threes and were able to keep them from getting comfortable at any point on long-distance shots.
An underrated part of forcing so many missed 3-pointers was the rebounding. Long-distance shots create long rebounds which are prime real estate for offensive boards, but of the 18 missed 3-pointers the Spartans had, they only tracked down one off the offensive glass. The remaining 17 went to the Aggies, largely to Brown, Martinez (six rebounds) and Mason Falslev (eight boards), all of whom Sprinkle praised for having a good rebounding game.
“We knew there would be a lot of long rebounds,” Sprinkle said. “We talked about our guards not leaking out and getting in there and rebound and it showed.”
Of some note, this game marks the 100th career victory for Sprinkle. He had 81 wins in four years at Montana State and has so far added 19 at Utah State. It’s the first major milestone for new coaches, but often an important one for those who wish to stick around in the profession. Sprinkle noted that “every day when I walk in that office, I see Stew Morrill” and is reminded of his legacy and that “100 wins is not very much” compared to Morrill’s total.
Danny Sprinkle talking about Stew Morrill when asked about the upcoming naming of USU’s court after the former coach. pic.twitter.com/EBhJTC0bu1
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) January 31, 2024
Sprinkle will seek win number 101 along with the 20th win of the season on Saturday at San Diego State. It would not only give Sprinkle his third straight 20-win season as a coach (and Utah State it’s fifth 20-win season as a program in the last six years), it would likely give the Aggies a massive leg up in the race for the conference championship.
