Aggies down Wolf Pack to snap losing skid
After a five-game losing streak, the Aggies are back in the win column.
The Utah State men’s basketball team defeated Nevada 83-75 in the Spectrum on Wednesday.
The win brought them to 3-7 in conference and avenged a loss to Nevada in Reno on Jan. 11..
“Under the circumstances, I have to be really proud of our team for rallying this week,” said USU head coach Stew Morrill. “It’s hard when you are 2-7 and you just got your tail kicked a number of times.”
The Aggies had their troubles in the beginning of the game, finding themselves down by eight a couple of times. They scored just two points over a six-minute stretch. They also didn’t make a 3-pointer until there were 55 seconds left in the half. Despite this, the Aggies took a 28-27 lead into the half.
The Aggies would not surrender the lead for the rest of the game. Though it was back-and-forth, the score did not go in favor of the Wolf Pack at any point during the second half.
“We talked about that at halftime, coming out in the second half aggressive and not giving in,” said senior guard Spencer Butterfield. “We played hard in the first half, but we just needed to continue that in the second half, so that was huge.”
“I thought our guys were really engaged and really played hard and gave themselves a chance to win,” Morrill said. “We obviously needed a win, and a lot of guys did really good things.”
Butterfield and senior Jarred Shaw both had double-doubles in the game, Butterfield with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Shaw with 17 and 13. Preston Medlin and Kyle Davis also scored in the double digits for the Aggies; Medlin had 14 and Davis had 12.
The Aggies out-rebounded the Wolf Pack 40-30 with Butterfield and Shaw accounting for 60 percent of the team’s rebounds.
USU went 25-of-30 from the free throw line, equating to 30 percent of the team’s total points.
After going just 1-of-7 from three-point range in the first half, the Aggies shot 5-of-7 from behind the arc in the second half.
USU will play Boise State in the Spectrum on Saturday. The Aggies lost to the Broncos in Boise on Jan. 18, 78-74.
“They have been great this week,” Morrill said. “That’s what gives you a chance. We were in a good frame of mind all week long.”
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