San Jose, Calif. • Justin Bean had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 25 Utah State bounced back from its first loss of the season by beating San Jose State 71-59 on Wednesday night in the Mountain West Conference opener.
The Aggies (8-1, 1-0) fell 81-73 last week at Saint Mary’s in a matchup between two of the top mid-major teams in the country. They fared much better in their return to the Bay Area by running away from the Spartans (3-6, 0-1) in the second half.
Utah State used a 9-0 spurt fueled by two baskets by Alphonso Anderson and five turnovers from San Jose State to build an 11-point lead early in the second half and mostly coasted from there.