Back in blue: Aggies spear Trojans in season opener

From start to finish, the Utah State men’s basketball team took it to the USC Trojans in a 78-65 win on Friday in the season opener at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

“<span>That was a good start for us,” USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “It’s a good way to open the season with a great team coming in from a high-powered league. Our crowd was like it’s been a lot of times. Our guys responded and did what we needed to do. It was encouraging. There are still a lot of areas of the game we need to get better at, that was my message to them. I feel good about the win.”</span>

The Aggies traded blows with the Trojans in the first half, leading by as many as 10 in the first half before breaking the game open in the second half.

Coming out of the intermission with a 40-33 lead, USU used a a 13-4 run to start the half and never looked back. Senior guard Preston Medlin led the way with a team-high 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers during Utah State’s run.

Four Aggies finished in double-digits in scoring, as Jarred Shaw fought through foul trouble to finish with 12, Spencer Butterfield added 12 and Kyle Davis finished with 10.

<span>”Sharing the ball was our emphasis all week, to make the extra pass,” Morrill said. “I thought they did a good job of that. We played hard and it was a good win.”</span>

<span>USU finished with 21 assists and seven turnovers and shot 48.3 percent from the field while limiting the Trojans to 36.9 percent shooting.</span>

<span>The Aggies also saw a 19-8 advantage in points off the bench.</span>

<span><span>“That was a good team win and a great way to start the season,” Butterfiled said. “We have a good team with a lot of depth. We know we can have confidence in anyone coming in.”</span></span>

<span><span>Utah State returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 12 when the Aggies host Southern Utah.</span></span>

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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