Utah State Falls to Purdue, Loses Danny Sprinkle

Utah State fell to Purdue 106-67 in the second round after the NCAA Tournament, one round after taking down TCU. Just days later, Utah State experienced a loss in a different way as head coach Danny Sprinkle left for the University of Washington. In the loss to Purdue, Great Osobor was the most important player for Utah State, scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds and two steals. Mason Faslev scored 10 points with five rebounds and Ian Martinez and Darius Brown II scored 11 points and 12 points respectively.

As a team Utah State went 23-64 from the field (35.9%) and shot 9-27 from three-point range (33.3%). The Aggies were outrebounded by the Boilermakers 49-26. The Aggies were also outnumbered in assists, 29-9, and Utah State was also outnumbered in points in the paint, 44-18. Overall, Utah State committed 20 fouls while Purdue committed just 10. Simply put, Utah State was overwhelmed by a Purdue team that has been on a mission since the start of the tournament. The largest lead for Purude in the game goes on to prove this point, which was a 41-point lead. The key to this game for Utah State was going to be to stop star Zach Edey, who scored 23 points and 14 rebounds as well as getting two steals and three blocks. Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds while making three blocks. Fletcher Loyer scored 15 points and had six assists while grabbing four rebounds.

What was a very successful end to the season for Utah State winning the Mountain West for the first time and moving past the first round of the NCAA Tournament ended in bitter defeat, both from getting blown out by Purdue and losing head coach Danny Sprinkle. Now, Utah State is searching for a new head coach for the second straight season. As of right now, Mason Faslev is one of the major players that has entered the transfer portal for Utah State. Darius Brown II has ran out of eligibility for Utah State but Utah State could potentially return key players to a successful season. More information will come shortly on emerging candidates for the Utah State head coach search.