Aggies get second shot at Aztecs
Just three-and-a-half weeks ago, behind a sell out crowd in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the Utah State men’s basketball team took then-No. 5 San Diego State into overtime. The game ultimately ended in a 74-69 Aggie loss and took place in the midst of a five-game losing streak for USU.
The Aggies will get a second chance at the now-No. 7 Aztecs in San Diego on Tuesday.
The Aggies are coming off a 73-62 loss to UNLV in Logan on Saturday. The game snapped a three-game winning streak for Utah State and dropped them to 5-8 in conference play.
“The whole story of the game is how their athleticism controlled everything,” said USU head coach Stew Morrill after the loss. “You have to give them credit. They were on it defensively.”
The Aggies actually led at halftime, but behind their shooting woes – going 33.8 percent from the field in the game – and UNLV’s stellar second half field goal percentage of 69.2, the game slipped away from USU.
“I thought our guys played hard, but we had too many errors in the second half. I think we’ll go down and compete,” Morrill said. “We practiced well today, and we’re in good spirits.”
“I thought we played really hard, we just had some defensive slippage. In the second half, they were just pushing the ball in transition,” said senior center Jarred Shaw after the game. “We have to fix our defensive errors and come back Monday to get better.”
The Aggies will have to look for a way to contain San Diego State senior guard Xavier Thames, who had 31 points against them on Jan. 25. Thames is third in the Mountain West in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game.
“He’s done that a lot. It’s not just us. He’s kind of bailed them out when they’ve been in a situation where they could lose,” Morrill said. “He’s definitely the guy to be aware of if we’re in a tight game. We better be aware of him the whole night. He’s an outstanding point guard, making their whole thing go.”
The Aggies are 3-1 in their last four games largely because of the re-emergence of Shaw, who has scored in double digits in each of those games and had a double-double in three of them. He is coming off a 20-point, 12-rebound performance against UNLV.
San Diego State lost their second game of the season on Tuesday to Wyoming. It was their first conference loss and dropped their overall season record to 22-2.
Each of the Aggie’s last four games have been against NCAA Tournament teams from last season. The Aggies are also coming off their first in-conference road win of the season last Tuesday at Colorado State.
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