Ags bully Bulldogs 74-57, move to 6-0 in WAC
Not that these types of things matter very much to Utah State head coach Stew Morrill, but when his Aggies took the floor last night against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, they had the opportunity to break a Western Athletic Conference record for consecutive regular season wins. A solid team effort and five Aggies scoring in double figures, led by senior forward Tai Wesley’s 14 points, gave the Aggies their 20th-consecutive WAC victory, as they defeated the Bulldogs, 74-57.
“I thought basically our guys did what they needed to do tonight,” Morrill said. “Louisiana Tech has always given us problems, whether they are having a good year or a tough year, they’ve always given us problems. I was pleased with our guys. I thought we played solid. It was a solid effort defensively and we executed pretty well. We pride ourselves on our defense and we play hard, and if we don’t have that defense, we wouldn’t have won.”
USU held the Bulldogs to 42.9 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from long range, while forcing 12 turnovers on the night.
The Aggies (17-2, 6-0 WAC) got off to a quick start against the Bulldogs (9-11, 0-6 WAC), as they jumped out to a 16-2 run. Sophomore forward J.L. Lewis and senior guard DeAndre Brown, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points, stopped the bleeding before senior guard Brian Green, who finished with 10 points, checked in and nailed a 3-pointer to swing the momentum the other way. It would be a trend that would follow the entire game.
“I thought we made some good runs to get back into the game,” Bulldogs head coach Kerry Rupp said. “Their offensive rebounding kind of cut those runs off. I thought our guys played hard. They fought to rally and get back in the game.”
Morrill echoed Rupp’s thoughts.
“They played hard,” Morrill said. “I never thought they quit playing hard.”
It doesn’t seem to bother the Aggies that they get a best effort night-in and night-out from opponents.
“We feel like we have a target on our back and each night people are going to give us their best shots,” Wesley said. “That’s okay because we really want to play against the best competition.”
At halftime the Aggies found themselves up, 43-29, and they were able to push that lead to 20 with a 13-4 run capped by fast-break lay-up where junior guard Brockeith Pane, who finished with nine assists, found senior forward Nate Bendall for the easy layup.
“Brockeith’s line was obviously very good,” Morrill said. “That was nice to see.”
The Bulldogs called timeout, and they rallied off eight straight points to cut the deficit to 12. That is something the Aggies feel they need improve.
“Once we’ve got teams down, we’ve got to keep them down,” Pane said. “We can’t give them any breathing room.”
The 12-point deficit is as close the Bulldogs would ever reach.
With the win the Aggies broke a WAC record previously held by the Utah Utes over the 1997-1998-1999 seasons. Even though it’s a great accomplishment in their eyes, they won’t be dwelling on it much.
“As far as the record, we didn’t know about it until yesterday,” Wesley said. “It is something special that we haven’t really talked about. It is something that is cool. It is definitely special to be a part of breaking that record, but it is nothing to dwell on or get caught up in.”
Green said, “That’s pretty cool. It takes a lot of work to get that, and hopefully we can keep it going. Just take it one game at a time and not get caught up too much on records.”
Morrill, who is definitely not one to be impressed with records, was very complimentary of his predecessors and equally impressed with his Aggies’ record.
“I have great respect for their record and it’s a different league now and a different time, but it’s still a nice thing for us that we’ve won that many in a row,” Morrill said. “Hard to believe with all the road games thrown in. Good accomplishment; hopefully we can extend it.”
The Aggies now look toward big conference match-up tomorrow against the New Mexico State Aggies, who fell on the road to the Nevada Wolf Pack last night, 90-71. The Aggies from down south tend to give the Aggies fits just like the Bulldogs, but the Aggies are excited and ready to go.
“We’re excited for Saturday,” Green said.
Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum tomorrow night and can be seen on ESPNU.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu