Bamforth demolishes USU
OGDEN, Utah —The USU’s men’s basketball team ran into a stiff test on the road Tuesday night.
Scott Bamforth scored a career-high 28 points on 7 of 9 shooting from 3-point territory and 7 of 12 shooting from the field, to lead the Weber State Wildcats over the Aggies, 73-63 in a rowdy Dee Events Center.
Weber State jumped out to a big lead in the first half — courtesy of eight 3-pointers — and never looked back. Bamforth hit five of his seven 3-point attempts in the first half alone.
“We got dominated tonight, especially in the first half,” Aggie head coach Stew Morrill said. “I thought Weber State really played well. They deserve all the credit. They are a really good basketball team, and we’re quite a ways away from being a good basketball team.”
Weber State shot 50 percent from the field and 67 percent from the 3-point line in the first half.
“The way they shot the ball in the first half was amazing,” Morrill said.
A layup from forward Morgan Grim gave the Aggies a 10-9 lead four minutes into the half, but it was the last time USU held a lead.
Aggie point guard Brockeith Pane cut the deficit to 23-18 with eight minutes left by sinking a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Bamforth responded with a trey on the ensuing possession and the Wildcats would end the half on a 19-9 run with a barrage of more 3-pointers.
Grim, who finished with a team-high 19 points, ended the half on a put-back dunk. Pane finished the night with 14 points, and he and Grim were the only players to finish in double digit scoring.
“I thought Morgan had a good game, and Brock’s stats weren’t bad,” Morrill said.
USU began the second half on a 10-5 run propelled by Mitch Bruneel’s two put-back buckets and four-consecutive free throws from Grim.
Weber State responded to USU’s run again with a run of its own. Wildcat sophomore forward Byron Fulton, who finished with 10 points, hit a jumper six minutes into the second half to fuel a 10-2 run. Bamforth hit his sixth 3-point shot as part of that run.
“Holy smokes, what a shooting display,” Morrill said of Bamforth.
Bruneel, who finished with eight points and four rebounds, provided USU an opportunity to make a comeback in the second half. The sophomore had a pair of layups to cut the score to 65-55 with 6:16 remaining in the game.
“I don’t think they were ever threatened,” Morrill said of Weber’s lead. “Every time we got it to single digits, we’d get a dumb foul or turn it over. It was unbelievable.”
A 3-pointer from Preston Medlin, who struggled shooting most of the night and finished with nine points on 1 of 4 shooting from 3-point land and 4 of 9 shooting from the floor, and a put-back dunk from senior forward Brady Jardine, who finished with nine points and 14 rebounds, once cut the lead to six.
But costly turnovers and a few missed rebounds stymied any chance USU had of coming out on top.
“We worked hard to try to come back; we just can’t make dumb plays,” Grim said. “When we give up the ball, we can’t foul — can’t make turnovers. Give them credit, they played a real good game.”
USU finished with fewer assists than it has since 1999, with three, while committing 15 turnovers on the night.
“We can’t turn the ball over that much,” Grim said. “We’ve got to get into our offense better. We need to make crisper plays. We need to be stronger with the ball.”
Weber State iced the game with six consecutive free throws with time running out. The Wildcats finished 21 of 27 from the free-throw line, while USU converted 14 of 23 free throws.
“We’ve got a lot of leaks right now we need to fill up before we’re going to be good,” Morrill said.
The Aggies won’t have much time to dwell on the loss as they face the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
“I think it was a good learning experience,” Grim said of the loss. “I think we all need to get better. We need to get tougher, and we will do that — no question about it.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu
TODD JONES photos