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Logan • Utah State coach Stew Morrill has some doubts about the recipe, but he likes the taste of the Aggies' 3-0 start to the young season.
Jalen Moore scored 15 points and, once again, Utah State overcame double-figure deficit to defeat Santa Clara on Wednesday night at the Spectrum, 60-54.
The Aggies did the same thing in their first two games.
They trailed Weber State by 18 and Illinois State by 12 before rallying.
This time, Santa Clara jumped to an early 18-3 lead. It was still 47-36 with 9½ minutes left before Utah State fought back.
"Coming out every game and digging ourselves a hole is not healthy for anybody," Morrill said. "Obviously we will end up struggling if we continue to do that."
Why the slow starts?
"I don't have an answer," Morrill said. "... Maybe we're a little nervous, the other team jumps us and we panic a little bit. Inexperience might be the right word. But I don't know. The good news is we keep fighting."
As a result, Utah State goes to Mississippi State on Saturday with a perfect record.
Smiling, Morrill said, "If you would have told me going in that we'd be 3-0 right now, I would have asked you to go get a mental check-up. So we'll take it ... We certainly won't feel bad about it."
The key to Utah State's victory was its defense, which limited the Broncos to 36.4 percent shooting, including 8-for-27 in the second half. Santa Clara failed to score from the field in the final 5:52.
"Our defense is keeping us in there right now and giving us a chance," Morrill said.
Utah State sophomore Jojo McGlaston, who finished with a career-high 10 points, made the game's biggest shot. The score was tied with 2:26 remaining when he took a handoff from David Collette and buried a long 3-pointer from in front of the Aggie bench.
"I just felt confident so I shot it," McGlaston said. "... I started off a little slow, but my teammates told me to keep shooting. They told me to have confidence. So I did. Luckily that one when in."
Morrill looked as surprised as the Broncos when McGlaston pulled up and fired with 20 seconds remaining on the shot clock.
Did he like the shot selection?
"When it went in, I felt really good about it," said Morrill, who thought the Broncos were more concerned about keeping McGlaston away from the rim.
"Jojo is a really good driver and I think they were playing him to drive ... [But] he made a big three at Illinois State, too. So he's starting to get his confidence a little bit and that's good."