Bean scores 30 to lift Utah St. past Richmond 85-74

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland – Utah State broke a 65-65 deadlock with five minutes remaining with a 13-3 run to take a double-digit lead into the final minute against Richmond on Friday night inside Alumni Hall on the U.S. Naval Academy. The Aggies then made free throws and senior forward Justin Bean punctuated his career-high night with a thunderous dunk to give USU the 85-74 victory at the final whistle.

Bean finished with a career-high 30 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, marking his 28th career double-double. He was followed in scoring by senior forward Brandon Horvath with 18 points, junior center Trevin Dorius with 11 and junior guard Rylan Jones with 10.

Horvath was playing in front of hometown fans, growing up just 25 minutes away from the academy. It also marked the first time he was able to play in front of family and friends since the 2019-20 season as UMBC did not allow fans during its 2020-21 season during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coming back home, I was really excited to take on a really good team,” Horvath said after the game. “Really happy that we were able to get Coach O (Ryan Odom) his first win.”

USU head coach Ryan Odom picked up his inaugural victory with the Aggies, returning to his old stomping grounds of Maryland, where he spent five years as the head coach of UMBC before joining Utah State.

Utah State shot 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the floor, including a blistering 64.0 percent (16-of-25) in the second half alone, 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from behind the 3-point line and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) at the free throw line. Richmond finished the game shooting 40.9 percent (27-of-66) from the floor, 43.8 percent (14-of-32) from behind the 3-point line and 50.0 percent (6-of-12) at the free throw line.

The teams traded baskets out of the gate before Richmond took a seven-point lead a little over six minutes into the contest. The Aggies countered with seven unanswered points, capped by back-to-back free throws by Bean to tie the game at 18-18 with just under 11 minutes to play in the opening half. The teams then traded the lead three times before back-to-back Aggie turnovers gave the advantage back to the Spiders for the rest of the half. A last-second 3-point basket by Richmond gave the Spiders a 43-37 lead going into the break.

The Aggies came out of the locker room as the aggressors and scored seven unanswered points behind baskets by senior guard Brock Miller and Horvath to take a 44-43 lead two minutes into the final half. The teams then traded baskets before Richmond took its final lead of the game with a field goal with 5:38 to play. Utah State then scored eight straight, opening with a Jones’ layup and finishing with six-straight points by Bean.

The Aggies never looked back from there, creating a double-digit buffer of 79-68 behind free throws by sophomore guard Steven Ashworth with 1:05 to play. Free throws by Bean and Jones down the stretch ultimately sealed the victory for the Aggies, 85-74.

Utah State remains on the road next week with three games at the Myrtle Beach Invitational in Conway, South Carolina. The Aggies will face Penn in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday, Nov. 18, at Noon.

For more information on Utah State’s men’s basketball program, follow the Aggies on Facebook at usumensbasketball, on Twitter at @usubasketball and on Instagram at @usubasketball. Fans can also watch USU men’s basketball highlights by visiting youtube.com/utahstateathletics.

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