Utah State nets No. 10 seed, opens NCAA Tournament vs. Missouri; Utah Valley invited to NIT

By
Jared Page
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The Utah State University men's basketball team earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, March 12, 2023. Photo: Mountain West Conference

LOGAN, Utah, March 12, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) β€” The Aggies are going dancing in Sacramento.

Utah State (26-8) received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, earning a No. 10 seed and a first-round matchup with seventh-seeded Missouri (24-9) at 11:40 a.m. MDT Thursday in Sacramento, California.

“I’m really excited and proud of our guys [and] everybody in the program … for this tremendous reward for hard work,” Aggies coach Ryan Odom said Sunday. “Our guys had several goals that they wanted to compete for and go after, and they never really wavered throughout the year, no matter what happened along the way.”

It’s the third NCAA Tournament appearance in the past five years for the Aggies, who previously were invited to the Big Dance in 2019 and 2021. Overall, USU has played in the NCAA Tournament 14 times, with its last win coming in 2001.

The Aggies were at the mercy of the NCAA Tournament selection committee after losing 62-57 to San Diego State on Saturday in the Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship.

“It obviously didn’t go our way [Saturday] night in the championship game and we didn’t achieve that goal,” said Odom, now in his second season at USU. “We didn’t achieve winning the regular-season championship, but we were good enough to get an at-large bid. … That’s not easy to do.”

Utah State is one of four MWC teams in the field of 68, joining fifth-seeded San Diego State in the South Region, with Boise State (No. 10 seed in West) and Nevada (No. 11 seed in West) rounding out the conference invitees.

USU also is the only representative in the NCAA Tournament from the state of Utah, though Utah Valley (25-8) will play in the National Invitation Tournament, Southern Utah (22-12) advances to the College Basketball Invitational and Salt Lake Community College (29-4) is headed to its fourth consecutive NJCAA Tournament.

The Aggies are led by junior guard Steven Ashworth, who averages 16.3 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 46.2% from the floor, 44.3% from 3-point range and 87.8% from the free throw line.

“We were definitely anticipating our names being called and were really anxious about where we were going to go, what seed we were going to be, and ultimately I think we were really pleased and happy with where we’re at,” Ashworth said Sunday.

The former Lone Peak High School star joined backcourt teammate Max Shulga on the MWC All-Tournament team. Shulga, a 6-4 guard from Kyiv, Ukraine, averaged 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists this season.

Taylor Funk, a 6-9 forward, adds 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while London native Dan Akin (12 points per game) and Australian Sean Bairstow (10.4 ppg) round out the Aggies’ balanced scoring.

It’s the second NCAA Tournament appearance for Odom but his first with the Aggies.

Odom’s previous trip to the Big Dance was a memorable one, as his University of Maryland Baltimore County squad in 2018 became the first No. 16 seed to win a first-round game with a 57-54 victory over Virginia, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.

Akin also was part of that surprising UMBC team before following Odom to Utah State.

Missouri finished fourth in the Southeastern Conference this season and lost to Alabama, the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

The Tigers are led by senior forward Kobe Brown (15.8 points, 6.3 rebounds per game), with grad student guards D’Moi Hodge (14.8) and DeAndre Gholston (10.7) also scoring in double figures.

“We realize it’s going to be a tough matchup, but every game is hard,” Odom said. “We’re certainly excited for the opportunity to compete in March Madness. It’s what these kids grow up thinking about when they want to be a college basketball player. … To see the smiles on our guys’ faces today and just the excitement surrounding that was really cool.”

Utah Valley University

Utah Valley earned an automatic bid to the NIT as the Western Athletic Conference regular-season champion. UVU will play at New Mexico in the first round at 8 p.m. Thursday.

The Wolverines fell 89-88 to in-state rival Southern Utah in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament on Friday, putting an end to their NCAA Tournament hopes this season.

The Wolverines won the WAC regular-season title for the second time in the past three years under coach Mark Madsen, setting a UVU record with 25 wins. Madsen also was named WAC Coach of the Year.

UVU is led by sophomore center Aziz Bandaogo, the WAC Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and fellow All-WAC first-team selections Le’Tre Darthard and Trey Woodbury.

Bandaogo, from Senegal, is one of the nation’s top shot blockers (2.9 per game), leads the Wolverines in rebounding (10.2 per game) and ranks as the team’s fourth-leading scorer (11.5 points per game). He’s just the second player in UVU history to average a double-double.

Darthard, a junior guard from Denton, Texas, led the Wolverines in scoring (14.4 points per game) and 3-point shooting (37%). He’s the WAC’s top free throw shooter (89.7%) and ranks 14th nationally at the charity stripe.

Woodbury, a senior guard from Las Vegas, averaged 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists for Utah Valley. He’s also just the ninth player in UVU history to score 1,000 career points.

Southern Utah University

Southern Utah wrapped up its inaugural season in the Western Athletic Conference with a second-place finish and accepted an invitation Sunday to play in the 16-team College Basketball Invitational.

The Thunderbirds are seeded No. 4 and will play 13th-seeded North Alabama (18-14) at 11 a.m. MDT Saturday in Daytona Beach, Florida.

“We are honored to accept a bid to the CBI,” SUU coach Todd Simon said. “This team has had a remarkable season and the postseason invite just adds to their list of accomplishments. We are excited to make a run for a postseason championship.”

This is just the third postseason appearance for SUU, which advanced to the semifinals of The Basketball Classic last season and played in the NCAA Tournament in 2001.

The T-Birds are led by senior guard Tevian Jones, who averages 17.6 points per game.

Salt Lake Community College

In the junior college ranks, Salt Lake Community College is headed to its fourth consecutive NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. The Bruins’ earned the No. 5 seed and will play the winner of the first-round matchup between Tallahassee (28-5).

Salt Lake defeated Arizona Western 80-67 on Saturday night to win the West District Championship title and earn the automatic tournament bid.

The balanced Bruins boast six players scoring in double figures, including four All-Region 18 honorees, led by first-team selections Alejandro Vasquez and Hunter Erickson in the backcourt.

Vasquez, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from Queens, New York, has been the Bruins’ leading scorer this season, averaging 18.6 points per game while shooting 54.7% from the floor and 40.4% from 3-point range.

Erickson, a 6-3 sophomore who played at Timpview High School, adds 12.3 points and 5.4 assists per game, while shooting 52.6% overall and 43.1% on 3-pointers.

Former East High star Andre Mulibea (12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game) was named to the second team, while Houston, Texas, native Jared Garcia (11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game) earned an honorable mention.

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