LOGAN, Utah (Dec. 21, 2023) – It's a quick turnaround for the ETSU men's basketball team. 
 
Coming off a hard-fought home win over Kansas City on Wednesday night, the Buccaneers boarded a flight on Thursday morning to gear up for a road test at Utah State on Friday night. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET inside Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. 
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Friday, Dec. 22
TIME: 9 p.m. ET
LOCATION: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum
TEAMS: ETSU (7-4) at Utah State (11-1) 
LIVE VIDEO: Mountain West Network
LIVE STATS: UtahStateAggies.com
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON (Keith Brake)
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• The Bucs have won four straight games and head to Utah with an overall record of 7-4
• ETSU capped off a perfect home stand with a 70-57 win over Kansas City on Wednesday night inside Freedom Hall … During the home stand, ETSU defeated Tennessee Tech, Tusculum and Kansas City
• Last night, the Bucs held Kansas City 15 points below its season average and to less than 30 percent shooting from the field … In addition, ETSU held the Roos to 27 first-half points 
• ETSU is 80-10 since the start of the 2015-16 season when holding the opposition to 30 points or less in the opening 20 minutes 
• Wednesday marked the fourth time this season the Bucs held their opponent below 60 points … ETSU, who has accomplished the feat three times in its last four games, is 4-0 this season when holding opponents to 60 points or less
• With the win over the Roos, the Bucs moved to 5-0 inside Freedom Hall this season and are now 95-31 (.754) at home since 2015-16
• ETSU netted six three-pointers on Wednesday – four coming from Ebby Asamoah – and extended its streak of making at least one triple to 1,135 straight games, marking the third-longest streak in the country 
• Asamoah tied a season-high with 24 points on Wednesday night … The Buccaneer graduate transfer now ranks 13th nationally in three-pointers per game (3.50), 26th in total made threes (35) and 35th in three-point field goal percentage (.432)
• The 2023-24 Buccaneer roster features 15 players ... ETSU's roster consists of one graduate player, two redshirt juniors, four juniors, one redshirt sophomore, three sophomores and four freshmen … Three players hail from North Carolina and Indiana, and one each from Tennessee, Iowa, West Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland
• The Bucs return four players from last year's roster who logged minutes, including starters Jaden Seymour and Allen Strothers, along with Justice Smith and Braden Ilic … Overall, ETSU only returns 29 percent of its scoring, 37 percent of its rebounding and 38 percent of its minutes played in 2022-23 … Seymour totaled 253 points, 218 rebounds and 1,793 minutes, Smith posted 237 points, 111 rebounds and 683 minutes, while Allen Strothers recorded 109 points, 51 rebounds and 776 minutes and Braden Ilic added for 46 points, 33 rebounds and 199 minutes
• After losing three starters and eight players from last year's team, head coach Brooks Savage and his staff brought in 11 new guys for the 2023-24 season … Seven of the Bucs are transfers – Ebby Asamoah (Delaware), Karon Boyd (USC Aiken), DJ Hughes (Butler), Jadyn Parker (North Florida), Quimari Peterson (John A. Logan), Tyler Rice (William & Mary) and Timmy Fasehun (Gulf Coast State College) … Four Bucs are true freshmen – Maki Johnson (Huntington Prep), Gabe Sisk (Ballard HS), Jaxson Jones (The Skill Factory) and David Meriwether (Lawrence North HS)

ABOUT UTAH STATE

• Utah State has won 10 straight games and sits 11-1 on the season 
• The Aggies last played on Dec. 16 when they defeated San Francisco 54-53 in Salt Lake City 
• Four of Utah State's 10 wins have been decided by five points or less, including its last two being decided by a combined three points 
• Utah State is 5-0 at home this season and has gone 67-13 (.838) at home over the last six seasons 
• The Aggies are led by Great Osobor as he's averaging 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds, while shooting 57 percent from the field … Ian Martinez is posting 12.7 and shooting 53 percent from the floor 
• As a team, Utah State has a plus-15.6 scoring margin as they are averaging 81.4 points and allowing just 65.8 … The Aggies are holding opponents to less than six made threes per game and a 29 percent shooting clip from beyond the arc 
• Utah State has made 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, including being an at-large selection last season where they were a No. 10 seed. The Aggies have made three Sweet 16 trips and a pair of Elite Eight appearances in program history. Utah State has also made 10 NIT appearances

 
SERIES HISTORY 

• Friday is the first-ever meeting between ETSU and Utah State 
• This marks the fourth time the Bucs are playing a team from Utah … ETSU defeated Southern Utah in 2019 and BYU in 1990, while losing to Weber State in 1979
• This is ETSU's first trip to Utah since beating BYU on November 14, 1990 … That game was part of the NIT Preseason Tournament where the Bucs then went on to play Arizona on November 16 

UP NEXT 
Following Christmas break, ETSU wraps up non-conference play when the Bucs head to Greenville, N.C. to take on East Carolina on Friday, Dec. 29. 
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.