Utah State vs Utah Tech preview: How to watch, projected starters, injuries

Utah State head men's basketball coach Ryan Odom. Photo by Lorene Hale.

LOGAN – After a long break Utah State is back in action, putting its undefeated record on the line against Utah Tech. The Aggies’ undefeated record is one of just 18 left in NCAA Division I but most betting folks wouldn’t pick this game to be the day USU leaves the ranks of the unbeaten. Utah Tech is the first opponent Utah State will face this season that isn’t in the top half of the KenPom rankings.

How to watch

  • Tip-off: 7 p.m. MT
  • Location: Dee Glenn 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

No reported injuries

Utah Tech

No reported injuries

Projected Starters

Utah State (5-0)

  • G – Rylan Jones (6-0, Sr.) – 5.4 points | 1.4 rebounds | 5.4 assists
  • G – Max Shulga (6-4, Jr.) – 11.8 points | 6.6 rebounds | 3.8 assists
  • G/F – Sean Bairstow (6-8, Sr.) – 8.0 points | 5.0 rebounds | 1.4 assists
  • F – Taylor Funk (6-9, Gr.) – 18.2 points | 9.0 rebounds | 2.0 assists
  • C – Trevin Dorius (7-0, Sr.) – 4.6 points | 3.0 rebounds | 0.2 assists
  • 6th Man – Steven Ashworth (6-1, Jr.) – 19.0 points | 3.2 rebounds | 5.6 assists

Utah Tech (3-4)

  • G – Cameron Gooden (5-11, Sr.) – 16.1 points | 3.6 rebounds | 2.3 assists
  • G – Noa Gonsalves (6-1, So.) – 7.1 points | 3.6 rebounds | 1.4 assists
  • G – Isaiah Pope (6-5, Jr.) – 10.1 points | 3.1 rebounds | 1.4 assists
  • F – Jacob Nicolds (6-5, Sr.) – 5.9 points | 2.4 rebounds | 1.3 assists
  • F/C – Tanner Christensen (6-10, So.) – 10.1 points | 7.6 rebounds | 1.4 assists

Team Statistical Ranks

Stats and ratings are from Basketball Reference (except the KenPom ranking). All ranks are out of 363 Division I teams.

Utah State

  • Pace – 73.9 (35th)
  • Offensive Rating – 116.4 (21st)
  • Defensive Rating – 97.1 (172nd)
  • Field Goal % – 49.0 (40th)
  • 3-point % – 47.8 (1st)
  • Rebounding % – 55.8 (29th)
  • KenPom Rank – 46th

Utah Tech

  • Pace – 68.9 (225th)
  • Offensive Rating – 100.0 (256th)
  • Defensive Rating – 109.1 (336th)
  • Field Goal % – 41.7 (291st)
  • 3-point % – 32.1 (254th)
  • Rebounding % – 50.4 (218th)
  • KenPom Rank – 257th

Utah Tech is in its third season of playing in Division I. Head coach Jon Judkins (a former USU basketball player) is in his 18th year with the program and has led the Trailblazers from the junior college ranks all the way to the top tier of collegiate basketball. Utah Tech went 5-10 its first year in Division I and 13-18 last year, but USU head coach Ryan Odom believes this year’s team is “the best team they’ve had so far since making the transition.”

“Really impressed with their size, their commitment to rebounding, their commitment to defense and distracting and creating turnovers,” Odom said. “They’re one of the best teams in the country at forcing turnovers with their unique defense. They’re willing to change it up at times and offensively they’re very clean with the way that they play.”

Utah Tech guard Cameron Gooden has been a key player for the Trailblazers the previous two seasons. He led the team in scoring in 2020-21, averaging 13.1 points per game and was second last season at 11.5. This year he’s scoring a career-high 16.1 points per game courtesy of some career-best shooting. Gooden shot 28.3 percent on 3-pointers his first two years in Utah but is making 38.7 percent of his downtown attempts this year. He’s also making a career-best 51.0 percent of shots inside the arc and a career-best 77.1 percent of his free throws.

For the Aggies this will be a chance to round back into form after a long break. Rather than worry about potential rust, Odom sees the Thanksgiving break as a good thing for his team.

“It’s always good to refresh and begin to look at some things that have happened during the first start regardless of the results so you can try and improve a little bit and that’s what we focused on,” Odom said.

Utah State entered the break about as hot as a team can get, especially its dynamic scoring tandem of forward Taylor Funk and spark plug bench guard Steven Ashworth. Those two have led Utah State to having one of the top offenses in the country and a current streak of three straight games scoring 90 points. Funk and Ashworth are shooting a combined 54.9 percent on 3-pointers on a combined average of 14.2 attempts per game. Largely thanks to these two, USU ranks best in Division I in 3-point percentage (47.8 percent). It’s a remarkable turnaround from a team that last year ranked 160th in 3-point shooting and had seven games where they shot below 25 percent from deep.

“We don’t have a specific percentage in mind that we want to shoot every game, we just want to take the right shots. And I think our guys have done that,” Odom said. “Certainly adding Taylor to the mix, Steven being out on the court more. Max (Shulga) being out on the court more now. That’s three really good shooters. And it doesn’t stop there.”

It shouldn’t be much of a secret to say Utah Tech is the weakest opponent the Aggies have faced thus far. And when it comes to the numbers, Utah State far outweighs the Trailblazers in every notable category. As such, KenPom predicts the Aggies to win by nearly 20 points (82-63), as does EvanMiya.com (86-67) and Haslametrics (82-66). On paper, USU is simply better than Utah Tech. But these games are played for a reason and it’ll be a chance for the Aggies to flex their muscles if they seize the opportunity.

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