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LOGAN — On Wednesday night, Utah State did what every college basketball team aspires to: It played a meaningful game in March.
And with the margins ever so thin, Utah State showed it intends to keep playing meaningful games as the month moves along.
In a must-win game for the Aggies, who are considered a bubble team, the team grabbed its most convincing road win of the season and beat UNLV 91-66 in Las Vegas to grab its seventh Quad 2 win of the season; and more importantly, stay in the NCAA Tournament at-large conversation.
Utah State looked well-rested coming off a week-long break and had little trouble blowing by a Rebels side that gave them fits in the Spectrum in January.
Steven Ashworth had a game-high 27 points; and his personal 8-0 run in the second half gave Utah State a double digit lead, which it never relinquished. Max Shulga added 19 points as the Aggies shot 62% from the field and held the Rebels to just 32% shooting.
"I think you want to be playing your best basketball in March," Ashworth said. "And it's officially March, so I'm happy with where we're at on both sides of the ball."
The win sets up a showdown with Boise State in the Spectrum on Saturday, a potential Quad 1 game that could put the Aggies on the right side of the bubble with a win. Utah State, which is now 24th nationally in KenPom rankings and 12-5 in Mountain West play, played like it deserved one of the coveted at-large bids inside the Thomas and Mack Center.
The Aggies led the Rebels nearly wire-to-wire, went on a 14-0 run in the first half, and closed the game on a 42-21 run. There were blemishes — the visitors coughed up 19 turnovers, a handful of which propelled an 8-0 UNLV run to cut the lead to four early in the second half. Any doubt of a loss was quickly smothered, though.
Out of a timeout, Ashworth hit three straight jumpers, including a 3-pointer that looked like it was launched from Henderson, and the Aggies jumped out to a 58-46 lead. From then on, a regressing Rebels side fell apart, and the Aggies had a field day at the rim and beyond the perimeter, scoring 47 second-half points.
"It got really tight early in the second half. ... We were making some mistakes on both sides of the ball," Aggies head coach Ryan Odom said. "Steven's little flurry there gave us a little sigh of relief, and then we're able to kind of play the game from there."
The looks came easy in the second half, and Dan Akin and Trevin Dorius enjoyed easy dump-off passes on the pick-and-roll. Even Zee Hamoda, who finished with 9 of the team's 28 bench points, joined in on the fun. He celebrated a late dunk by lifting his legs in the air and tapping the back board, which ushered a technical foul.
"We try to get behind the defense as much as we can and get some easy baskets near the rim," Odom said. "It's not necessarily post ups. It's more rolls to the basket as they're worried about our shooters and drivers, and we kind of get behind. I think it's more about taking what the defense gives you."
Now ranked first in offensive efficiency and fourth in defensive efficiency in Mountain West play, per KenPom, the Aggies appear to be playing their best basketball of the season. The Aggies will need to bring that same level of play before a sell-out home crowd against Boise State on Saturday.
"Great win," Odom said. "Now we refocus and get ready for Boise State, who we obviously know is a really good team."
