No. 21 Utah State beats Fresno State 71-55

LOGAN, Utah – Nate Bendall scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to lead four Utah State players in double figures as the No. 21 Aggies ran past Fresno State 71-55 on Saturday night.

Brian Green also scored 13 points off the bench for Utah State (23-3, 12-1 Western Athletic Conference), while Pooh Williams and Tai Wesley had 10 apiece.

The Bulldogs (11-14, 5-8) were led by Nedeljko Golubovic with 15 points and freshman Bracken Funk with 14, the third consecutive game Funk has reached double figures.

Utah State has won 31 straight WAC games at home and 39 of its last 40 overall. The last WAC team to beat the Aggies in Logan was Fresno State on March 3, 2007.

Utah State had a 25-game WAC winning streak snapped with a 64-56 loss Wednesday night at Idaho. The Aggies have won 29 in a row at home, however, the third-longest active streak in the nation.

Fresno State forced turnovers with a full-court press and pulled within 53-37 with 8:19 remaining after Steven Shepp made a 3-pointer, the closest the Bulldogs had been in the second half after trailing by 21 at halftime.

FSU forced 12 turnovers but was only able to grab 21 rebounds to 36 by the Aggies. Utah State led by as many as 26 midway through the second half.

Utah State scored 30 points in the paint while Fresno State was limited to 16 on 20-of-48 shooting from the field in the game.

In the first half, the score was tied three times and there were seven early lead changes as the teams traded baskets. Fresno State used a zone to slow the Utah State offense and led 13-12 with 10:55 to play.

The Aggies then went on a 7-0 behind Green's first 3-pointer and a dunk by Brady Jardine. Utah State extended the run to 23-2 and led 40-19 at halftime after shooting 60 percent from the floor.

The Aggies will play two non-conference games next week, including an ESPN BracketBuster game at St. Mary's, before closing out their home schedule against Idaho on Feb. 26.