Stunned – USU basketball collapses in final minute
With 37 seconds left to play Saturday night, the Utah State Aggies were sitting pretty on an eight-point advantage.
Chants of “overrated” broke out from the 10,000-plus sellout crowd, taunting No. 24 Pacific.
But then something went wrong – and then another thing and then another.
“The students started chanting too early,” head coach Stew Morrill said after the game.
With 27 seconds left, Pacific’s Marko Mihailovic launched a failed 3-point attempt, but was fouled by USU’s John Neil. Mihailovic converted all three free throws reducing the Aggie lead to 61-56.
Five seconds and two Nate Harris free throws later, Mike Webb hit his second 3-pointer of the night for the Tigers.
The ensuing inbounds play was intercepted and Webb connected on his third from behind the arc. With 12 seconds left on the clock, the Aggies found themselves clinging to a one-point lead.
Forced to foul, the Tigers put David Pak on the charity stripe with 11 seconds to play. Pak clanked both attempts and Pacific secured the rebound.
The Tigers pushed the ball up the floor and, with two ticks left, the Aggies made their final mistake. A miscommunication, a breakdown in defense left Pacific’s Christian Maraker wide open at the free-throw line.
Maraker was money.
“We’re just in man,” Morrill said, scratching the side of his head. “All you’ve got to do is find your man. It’s not like it’s anything real complicated.”
Pak recieved the ball on a quick inbounds play and launched a prayer the length of the court, but it went unanswered.
“At that point, we didn’t know what the hell we were doing,” Morrill said.
Stunned, fans who had rocked the Spectrum minutes earlier, filed out silently. A few sat, recapping the game’s final minute, second guessing, not sure of what just happened.
“We made one, two, three, four, five big mistakes,” Nelson said checking off the USU collapse on his fingers. “If we make four big mistakes, we win that game.”
“We gift wrapped that baby and handed it to them,” Morrill said.
Scoring USU’s first nine points of the second half, freshman Jaycee Carroll led all scorers with 19 points Saturday. Nelson contributed 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Harris had nine points and eight boards.
For Pacific, Guillaume Yango knocked down 15 points, leading four Tigers in double digits. Maraker added 15 points and 11 rebounds on the night.
“[Yango] is a big boy,” Nelson said of he 6-foot-9-inch forward. “He gives us trouble and we didn’t do a good job of containing him.”
With Cal State Northridge beating Idaho Saturday night, USU now finds itself in third place in the Big West Conference.
Morrill said he wasn’t sure how his team would respond in the final five games of the season, but Nelson said it’s important for the players to remeber there is still basketball to be played.
“We won 39 minutes and 10 seconds of that ball game. It’s important that we remember that,” he said. “Tonight’s game was not the season. It was a big game, but it wasn’t the season.”
The Ags now travel to California for games against UC Riverside and Long Beach State. Thursday’s game starts at 8:05 p.m.
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Utah State´s Spencer Nelson battles inside with Pacific´s Christian Maraker. Nelson finished Saturday´s game with 18 points and 13 rebounds, but the Aggies faltered in the final 37 seconds, giving the Tigers a 64-63 win. (Photo by John Zsiray)