Ags bounce back at Riverside
Sparked by an Ian McVey block, Utah State guard Calvin Brown found Jason Williams for an alley-oop dunk to put the Aggies up by 31 Thursday night in Riverside, Calif.
The Highlanders would finish the game on an 8-2 run, but some leads are safe.
After a disappointing loss to No. 19 Pacific, the Aggies rebounded in a big way against UCR, beating the Highlanders 73-48.
Led by Spencer Nelson’s game-high 18 points, the Ags improved to 19-6 on the season and 10-4 in conference play. Riverside dropped to 8-15 and 3-10 in the Big West.
Nelson also contributed six rebounds and five assists on the night.
“Spencer is obviously the best player on the floor,” head coach Stew Morrill said. “He is having an unbelievable senior year.”
Junior forward Nate Harris was the only other Aggie in double figures Thursday, with 13 points.
Coming off the bench, Cass Matheus, John Neil and Ian McVey were also contributors for Utah State.
“As long as we don’t mess up too bad, we get to stay in the game,” McVey said. He finished the night with four points and three blocked shots.
Matheus added four points and a career-high seven rebounds, six of which came in the first half. Neil finished the game with eight points.
“John is John,” Morrill said. “He’s always going to do everything he can to help you.”
The game’s opening six minutes saw six ties and only one missed shot, as both squads came out hot.
The Ags soon took advantage of a 7-1 turnover differential and started to pull away from UCR.
A Nelson dunk off a no-look pass from Chris Huber capped a 17-4 USU run that put the Aggies up 31-18 with about four minutes left to play in the first half.
Nelson finished the first half with 13 points – his 22nd double-digit effort on the year.
For the Highlanders, Brett Ost, who averages 4.8 points per game, led the way in the first half with seven. Rickey Porter, UCR’s second-leading scorer, had two 3-pointers for six points.
After sitting out Saturday’s game against Pacific with an injured ankle, Williams started for the Aggies Thursday and finished with six points.
USU will now travel to Fullerton, Calif., for its second game of the season against the Titans.
-acf@cc.usu.edu