USU puts the locks on Vandals
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Utah State University basketball Head Coach Stew Morrill said Thursday’s game against the Idaho Vandals was not necessarily the perfect first-round game.
A win is a win, though, and the Aggies cruised to a 61-41 victory to advance to the second round of the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Morrill said he was pleased with his team’s focus and intensity level against UI.
“After last weekend [dropping the final two games of the year on the road], we focused on the season as a whole,” Morrill said. “Our defense was solid; it was nice to hold them down in points and [shooting] percentage.”
In the first meeting between the teams, the Aggies 57-46 victory on Jan. 26, USU was outrebounded for the first time of the season, 39-34.
When the teams next matched up, this time in the friendly confines of the Spectrum, the Aggies still came away with the ‘W’, but allowed the Vandals to shoot 47 percent.
It was a different story Thursday.
“We did everything better,” Morrill said. “We defended better and shot better. We also passed the ball better. We got a lot of our execution back.”
Idaho only shot 32 percent from the field for the game. The teams tied on the boarding aspect with 30 apiece.
IU Head Coach Leonard Perry said scoring was the biggest problem of the game for his team.
“We got the looks; we just couldn’t knock them down,” he said.
Vandal forward Rodney Hilaire, the leading scorer along with center Matt Gerschefske with 10 points, said he didn’t think the Aggies’ defense made any adjustments to stop his team, he just couldn’t get the ball in the hole.
Neither could his teammates.
The Vandals made 15-of-47 shots from the field, 5 of 17 from beyond the arc and 6 of 12 from the stripe.
To make matters worse, the Vandals racked up 15 turnovers to the Aggies’ nine, which was a big improvement for USU who recorded 25 turnovers in the final regular season game against Cal State Northridge.
After jumping out to an early 9-4 lead only three minutes into the game, the Aggies would not let the Vandals come within reach, leading by as many as 24 points.
No one Aggie was about to steal the glory of defeating the Vandals for the third time this season though, a task assistant coach Randy Rahe said was a difficult thing to do earlier in the week.
Center Jeremy Vague led the team with 14 points and a game-high three blocks in 23 minutes of play.
Forward Desmond Penigar checked in next with 12 points off 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
Penigar grabbed five boards, all on the defensive end, along with Vague who also had five, three of which were on the offensive glass.
Spending a good portion of the second half watching the game from the sidelines, USU guard Tony Brown finished with eight points and three assists, all of which came in the first 20 minutes of play.
Along with the victory and moving onto the second round, the Aggies racked up more Big West Conference Tournament statistics.
USU has contained its last four BWC Tournament opponents to below 50 points and its last seven to below 40 percent shooting.
Prior to the Utah State-Idaho game, Pacific defeated Cal State Northridge 78-66. The Tigers had five players in double figures, led by Eli Nolan off the bench with 21 points.
Morrill said his team takes pride in how well they have done defensively this season but it will be a real challenge preparation-wise for Friday’s game.
USU will play Pacific at 7 p.m. (MST) in the intimate atmosphere of the Anaheim Convention Center.
“It’s going to be a tough match-up,” Penigar said. “They have good post players, so I have to be ready to play.”
Brown said the two teams have been in a rivalry the last few years, and it isn’t going away any time soon.
“When you get two teams that play as hard as us and Pacific, it’s going to be a battle,” he said.