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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah State made San Jose State look like a Mountain West powerhouse Wednesday night on the road.
Diogo Brito pulled the Aggies back ahead of the three-win Spartans.
Brito scored 13 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to help Utah State overcame a slow start and blow past the Spartans, 81-63 at The Event Center in San Jose, California.
Sam Merrill finished with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Aggies, and Brock Miller supplied 13 points and four assists for Utah State (13-4, 3-2 MW). Neemias Queta supplied 14 points and nine rebounds for Utah State.
Noah Baumann had a career-high 29 points for the Spartans (3-13, 0-4 MW), including 21 in the first half.
"At the end of the day it's a good win for us," Utah State coach Craig Smith said. "It was obviously a really slow start. Part of that was them, part of that was us, certainly. On the offensive end, we turned it over nine times for the game, which is very, very good. That's three-straight games where we've had 11, seven and now nine turnovers. That helps us offensively immensely."
San Jose State made a season-high 12 3-pointers, including seven from Baumann — tied for the most in a single game in Spartan men’s basketball history.
The Spartans jumped out to a 21-7 lead early, taking advantage of the Aggies’ 33-percent shooting cold streak to go up 14 on Baumann’s 15th point with 12:38 left in the half.
🌯🌯🌯🌯#AggiesAllTheWaypic.twitter.com/CSdesshbkf
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 17, 2019
San Jose State led by as many as 15, but Diogo Brito capped a furious 12-0 run that brought the Aggies all the way back, giving Utah State a 31-29 lead with 4:15 to go in the half. The Aggies turned a 15-point deficit into a lead that swelled as high as 36-30 — thanks in large part to a 22-3 run over the final eight minutes of the half.
Baumann had 18 of his first-half high 21 points in the first eight minutes of the game for the Spartans.
But the Aggies held him scoreless until the final minute of the half, while Brito, Merrill and Brock Miller all had at least eight points by halftime, and Utah State led 41-35.
"I think we came out really slow and sluggish, and I don't think we were really prepared," USU freshman Tauriawn Knight said. "Overall, we played a good defensive game. We just needed to come out and play the whole game like we did in stretches."
Brito hit his fourth 3-pointer to cap a 17-3 run for Utah State, gifting the Aggies a 60-44 lead with 11:33 left to play en route to the runaway victory.
Next up:
The Aggies return home Saturday to face Colorado State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT at the Spectrum in Logan.
