[umainealum]

Big game for Utah State tonight. The Aggies are 7-3 after their romp over New Orleans in their last time out which followed 2 tough losses to St Mary's and #24 BYU. Weber State (9-1) hasn't played a great schedule but does have wins over UMass, Ball State, Green Bay. However, their last 2 have been a blowout loss at Washington State (94-60) followed up with a blowout victory over non-DI Maine-Fort Kent (82-36).

This is an in-state rivalry game so all bets are off. Plus, Weber State has won 15 straight home games.

An interesting tidbit: Weber State, picked 2nd in the Big Sky, is led by former Utah State guard, Koby McEwen, who was there from 2016-2018. The 6'4 guard from Toronto was the Moutain West Freshman of the Year in 2017 and is currently averaging just under 16 PPG while leading the team in 3's (22-56 on the year).

This should be a great game and definitely one that Utah State needs to win.

 

[ball_of_rubber]

Is Weber St seriously going to broadcast this game with no sound?

 

[umainealum]

59-44 Utah State at the half. Shooting percentages for the first half:

Utah State - 56.8% / 66.7% / 100%
Weber State - 51.6% / 50% / 62.5%

Yep, both teams are shooting 50% or better from the field, from 3-pt range and from the foul line. That's pretty spectacular.

 

[charliemike]

Utah State won 95-80 and looked really good. Utah State is getting better as the season progresses. They did have Rylen Jones go off the court in the second half but hopefully he just got a knock. Eytle-Rock is getting his feet back underneath him and had 11 points on 3/4 from 3-point. Horvath had 20 and 14. It was Bean's worst game of the season and they didn't need him to win. I don't know how they're going to fair in the Mountain West this year because there are some fast starts from teams like Wyoming, Air Force, and #23 Colorado State.

 

[charliemike]

Utah State has another tough game this weekend against Iowa. Would be a very good win for them, especially on the road.

 

[umainealum]

So this hasn't been updated for a while. I have been following the Aggies and Coach Odom this year and man, they have been making a huge run as of late. Last night, they lost in OT at Wyoming, the leaders of the Mountain West, in a game they probably should have won. That loss, ending a 5-game winning streak, dropped them to 6-6 in the league and probably means they have to run the table to be on the bubble for an NCAA Tourney bid.

Those 6 losses have come by a combined 21 points. And 3 of them were by 2 points while another was a 3-pt loss. Man, that is tough. In a league that tough, the difference between 6-6 and 9-3 is extremely minute.

 

[charliemike]

I think Utah State had a Covid issue too and kept playing. RJ and Rylan Jones missed time because of it. I think a couple of games they only played 7 players. I agree it's been a tough season for them but that's due in part to the fact that the roster isn't deep enough to compete with the best teams in the conference. Utah State has Horvath and Bean as their most consistent scorers, followed by Ashworth and Bairstow. I think losing Brock Miller has really hurt them. He hasn't played since their loss to Air Force and he was a consistent 3pt threat. So while Odom could put a very solid first five on the court, the drop off after that is precipitous.

I was curious what was going to happen in their first season, and I think Odom has some work to do because both Miller and Horvath are going to run out of eligibility, and I think they're going to have a hard time keeping Justin Bean from going to a top-10 program as a grad student.

Free throw shooting has been an Achilles heel of Odom's programs and it's continuing to be a problem at Utah State. I don't know if he just doesn't focus on it or the staff aren't good at coaching it. Plus, I'm really wondering how effective he's going to be at recruiting at that level.

 

[umbc32244]

Been watching them beat up on New Mexico tonight.

Team looks really well-coached; great ball movement, good on-ball defense. Not sure the talent is there right now for an NCAA berth, and Odom needs a productive offseason losing Bean & Horvath, but I think this year he's close to maximized this team's talent level. Unfortunately a few close losses has them off the bubble.

 

[charliemike]

Miller and Bairstow missing a combined 24 games has really hurt them. I think had only Bairstow missed time that they'd be probably 3rd in the conference instead of 7th.

Two four game losing streaks including both against Wyoming and Boise State didn't help.

This offseason will be interesting for Odom. He's going to have to recruit better than he ever has in his career, and I still feel like the best recruiter on his staff coaches at Longwood now.

 

[umbc32244]

Odom & co. cruissssing past Air Force in the opening round of the MW Tourney.

Colorado State tomorrow.

 

[RazorRamon]

anyone catch the game last night? Hovarth played excellent, RJ struggled mightily. Nice to see Hovarth crush it this year, improving in all stat cats

 

[ball_of_rubber]

Subpar shooting, but still had the chance to win. It would’ve been nice if the ref didn’t take over in the last minute.

 

[umainealum]

Unfortunately the year has ended for Utah State and Coach Odom. They finish with a record of 18-16 after an 11-point loss at home to Oregon in the 1st Round of the NIT. As they look back on their season, I'm sure there are going to be a lot of "what ifs". They started the year off with a loss to UC-Davis by 3 and then lost several other one possession games: 2 vs St Mary's, 2 pts at Air Force, 2 pts vs Wyoming, 3 pts vs Boise State, 2 pts in OT at Wyoming and 2 pts vs Colorado State. A few others were 5 -7 pt margins as well. I mean, you win those 7 one possession losses and suddenly you are looking at a 25 win team that is undoubtedly in the NCAA Tournament. Shoot, just 3 or 4 and they might be in the Big Dance.

Anyway, I really enjoyed watching them play as well as the Mountain West as a whole. That is a great league!

 

[UVM Hoop Cat]

Odom is truly a fantastic coach/rising coaching star. So happy he's now at Utah State

 

[charliemike]

They have work to do there for sure. This off-season is going to change the trajectory of his rise as a coach. He needs to land players that can take them back to the 25-win team they have been recently. If Bean returns that will help. They are going to lose Miller and Horvath. RJ isn’t good enough yet to be starting at this level so they need to replace him (which improves the depth).

Recruiting has been the one area that I’ve wondered about with the Odom staff since Griff Aldrich left. Will be an interesting offseason for them.

 

[Andy1992]

They have work to do there for sure. This off-season is going to change the trajectory of his rise as a coach. He needs to land players that can take them back to the 25-win team they have been recently. If Bean returns that will help. They are going to lose Miller and Horvath. RJ isn’t good enough yet to be starting at this level so they need to replace him (which improves the depth).

Recruiting has been the one area that I’ve wondered about with the Odom staff since Griff Aldrich left. Will be an interesting offseason for them.

I am suprised with the players UMBC had last year they didn't do better than what they did.

 

[charliemike]

I think everyone at UMBC would admit last year was a real missed opportunity to go back to the dance as the regular season co-champions. Blowing a 16 point lead at home in the second half to UML was awful. I do think that some players like Nathan, Wojcik, and Kennedy have gotten much better this year but we should have at least made the final.

 

[ball_of_rubber]

Dang, I hope the fans haven’t already turned against him.

 

[charliemike]

I don’t think so. They got hurt by Covid and some key injuries and as was mentioned they were very close to being a 20+ win team. But he has some big shoes to fill on the player side.

 

[umbc32244]

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