Wesley scores 22 as Aggies demolish Boise State
The No. 21 Utah State men’s basketball team couldn’t have played much better against the Boise State Broncos Saturday night. Even Aggie head coach Stew Morrill couldn’t find much to complain about.
Senior forward Tai Wesley scored a game-high 22 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting to lead the Aggies over the Boise State Broncos, 77-49 in front of a sold out Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Saturday night. Not only did the Aggies smother the Bronco’s offense, they put together what might be the most complete game they have played all season.
“I don’t have a lot to complain about tonight,” Morril said. “We played a pretty good all-around game. We opened up with making shots and playing hard … jumped on ‘em early. I had no idea that it would be that kind of game, but it was pleasing for us.”
True freshman forward Thomas Bropleh got an easy lay-up on the Broncos (12-11, 5-6 WAC) but that’s where the Broncos good fortune would stop. Wesley would get an easy lay-up on the ensuing possession to spark a 15-2 Aggie run capped by two free-throws from junior guard Brockeith Pane. Wesley scored six points of those points and senior forward Nate Bendall, who finished with eight points and seven rebounds, scored four of those points.
“We wanted to establish down low,” Wesley said. “They weren’t really doubling very hard. Us post guys get excited about that, and we go do work.”
The entire Aggie (22-2, 11-0 WAC) offense went to work against the Broncos, as they shot their best shooting percentage of the season at 64.3 percent from the field. Utah State also shot a blazing 62.5 percent from the 3-point line, which led a 22-point Aggie lead by halftime. “They were a juggernaut coming out of the gate,” Broncos head coach Leon Rice said of the Aggies. “You can see why they have a 30- or 40 game-winning streak, or whatever it is. They were dialed in. When they are like that they are a machine, and are hard to stop. They looked like the Lakers there for a while. They are turning it up and playing really well.”
The Aggies held the Broncos to 33.9 percent shooting from the field and 22.7 percent shooting from 3-point land. USU was also able to hold Broncos’ leading scorer La’Shard Anderson without any points.
“They were ready to go tonight and that was nice to see,” Morrill said of his Aggies. “It was nice not to have to come in at halftime and raise hell, ‘cause we played a good half. It may be as good of an all-around game that we’ve played. That’s awfully positive.”
The Aggies put the Broncos away for good in the second half, as a lay-up from Wesley would spur a 17-7 run to give the Ags their biggest lead of the night at 62-28.
“Coach has really been on us about putting two halves together,” senior forward Pooh Williams said. “This year it has been pretty tough for us to do that. We haven’t been able to play a full 40 minutes of Aggie basketball. Tonight, we were really focused and determined to put together a 40-minute game.”
The Broncos would go on a 10-0 run over a six minute span after the Aggies got their biggest lead of the night, but it was too little too late for the Broncos as they didn’t come within 20 points of the Aggies the rest of the night.
“It’s not very often that you’re not really threatened in a game,” Morrill said. “We were a large part of why it didn’t go well (for the Broncos).”
Aside from Wesley’s 22-point performance, the Aggies were able to get very balanced scoring. Williams and Pane finished with 10 apiece, while junior forward Brady Jardine finished with eight points and Tyler Newbold finished with seven points.
“That’s the way we want to play,” Newbold said. “That’s when we’re at our best, when we’re balanced like that. The other team can’t just concentrate on one guy, and they weren’t really doubling our post guys very much tonight and they played great.”
With the win over the Broncos, the Aggies extended their current winning streak 17 games and their current WAC winning streak to 25 games. Morrill said earlier in the season that his Aggies would get better as the season progressed. As the end of the season approaches, the Aggies seem to be hitting their stride.
“It’s February; you can’t fade,” Morrill said. “I talk about those kinds of things all the time. One of the strengths of our program through the years has been guys being able to focus late in the season. That’s been one of our strengths. We can’t lose that or we see everything.”
The Aggies head on the road for one game this week before coming back to the Spectrum on Saturday. On Wednesday the Aggies will travel to Moscow, Idaho to face the Idaho Vandals in a nationally televised game. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN2.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu