Clutch Performance From Darius Brown II Propels Utah State To Conference Title
Mar 10, 2024, 3:25 PM | Updated: 4:37 pm
Utah State Aggies head coach Danny Sprinkle talks with Utah State Aggies guard Darius Brown II (10) at a game against the San Francisco Dons at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. USU won 54-53.
(10)
LOGAN, Utah – If the Mountain West had a ‘Clutch Performer of the Year’ award, there’s no doubt that Utah State’s Darius Brown II would be a shoo-in for the honor.
At 24 years old, Brown plays a pass-first, get-everybody-involved style of basketball that has endeared him to teammates and coaches. The Pasadena, California native came to Utah State with 164 games and 159 career starts between four seasons at Cal-State Northridge and one season at Montana State. That experience allows the 6’2 graduate student to play with an uncommon poise down the stretch of close games.
RELATED: Utah State Locks Up Mountain West Regular Season Title
DARIUS BROWN CLUTCH.
(via @USUBasketball)
pic.twitter.com/EoPQBUKhX7— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 10, 2024
Game-winning shots earlier this season at UNLV and at Fresno State, along with numerous clutch performances on both ends all season long, set the stage for a regular season finale encore.
With an outright conference championship on the line, the Aggies and Lobos were tied at 84 with less than ten seconds on the clock.
RELATED: USU Clinches Share Of Mountain West Regular Season Crown
“It wasn’t really up to me,” Brown said as he described the final sequence to KSL Sports Zone’s Scott Garrard. “Once I slipped the screen, I was supposed to either rip or look at Great inside. The whole game, once you throw it into Great, they just collapse. Great made a great decision. I don’t even know if he saw me completely before he even threw it.”
Brown caught the Osobor pass with one second on the shot clock and Jaelen House closing fast.
The General with the shot heard around the NATION!@dariusbrownii ➡️ HIM#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/kGA6aGSCV2
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 10, 2024
“When it left my hand, it felt good. To be honest, it felt a tad long.”
The three-ball settled through the net with 3.4 seconds left, allowing USU to escape with a well-earned win.
Sprinkle Makes Case For Brown As MVP
“Darius Brown, are you kidding me,” Sprinkle asked after Brown finished the night with 19 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and three steals in an all-around performance that epitomizes his lone season in Logan.
Danny Sprinkle makes his plea for Darius Brown to be MWC MVP. @kslsports pic.twitter.com/HM5XprsND7
— Scott Garrard (@ScottyGZone) March 10, 2024
“The fans deserve this to be done in the Spectrum and the way it ended; I mean, what did they say about Aaron Boone? Aaron… Boone. It’s Darius… Brown, and if he’s not the league MVP, I’m never voting again because of what he’s done with this — and I told him I say it in an endearing way, like this group of misfits — it’s unbelievable how he’s lead this group. I don’t know if that’s four, I know it’s four, it might be five basic game-winning shots he’s hit in conference play. When this team needs something, they know they can count on him, and he knows he can count on anybody else to do it, too.”
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Utah State enters the 2024 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championships as the No. 1 overall seed. The Aggies will face the winner of No. 8 Wyoming vs. No. 9 Fresno State on Thursday, March 14, at 1 p.m. MT. USU beat both teams twice in the regular season.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering the Utah State Aggies, Locals in MLB, and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees, Beehive baseball, and Aggie athletics coverage here.
