Foul trouble and foul call leads to loss
Foul trouble, a questionable foul and Jerry Green all contributed to USU’s 56-51 loss to the University of California at Irvine and the end of several streaks – most importantly the 26-straight wins against Big West teams.
“Now we’ve got to start a new streak,” said head coach Stew Morrill.
The Aggies led by as much as eight points early in the game Wednesday night, but by 14 minutes into the game, USU big men Shawn Daniels, Dimitri Jorssen and Jeremy Vague all had three fouls.
“It sure was frustrating to not have any post guys after we got off to a great start,” Morrill said.
By then Green – who scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds – and the rest of the Anteaters forced the game down to the wire.
“There’s a reason why they are 16-2,” Morrill said. “Irvine deserves the credit for finding a way to win.”
That way might have seemed kind of cheap to Aggie fans.
With the Aggies trailing 53-51 with 27 seconds left, Green drove into the lane and into USU defensive specialist Brennan Ray. That drew a charging call from referee Mike Scyphers, but Jim Stupin disagreed and called a blocking foul seconds later.
“From my angle, it was a charge,” Morrill said. “But I’m a little biased.”
In the end both were right, sort of. After conversing, the referees decided to call a double foul – meaning the ball went to Irvine with the shot clock off because the possession was leaning toward the home team.
Forced to foul, the Aggies put Malachi Edmond on the line with 20 seconds left. He hit both his free throws and after Bernard Rock missed a lay up, Anteater Sean Jackson hit one of two to seal the win, 56-51.
Most of the sell-out record crowd of 5,231 rushed the court after Rock missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.
After the game, the Aggies seemed disappointed, but relieved.
Morrill congratulated the players for a great run.
“It’s quite a feat,” Morrill said.
Junior shooting guard Tony Brown even sounded relieved.
“You hear about [the streak] everyday. It causes a lot of stress,” he said. “I think some of us are glad it’s over.”
The Aggies can also be happy with their effort, Morrill said.
USU did lead for the majority of the game, and Daniels played well – when he was in. He led the Aggies with 15 points and four blocks – three of them against UCI’s first three shots. Those rejections and six points in the first five minutes of the game led to a 11-3 USU lead.
But Green chipped away at the lead and the home team had a 21-19 lead with about seven minutes left in the half.
Curtis Bobb and Ray – working overtime for the foul-plagued starters – helped USU to take the lead back. Ray slammed a thundering dunk on an assist from Brown to keep the game close and Bobb hit three straight free throws to take the lead back, 26-25.
Albert Miller hit a triple with about a minute left before intermission to snatch the lead back. The Aggies shot two 3-pointers on the last possession, but none of them fell.
That was a trend throughout the game. The Aggies, who average 41 percent from beyond the arch, shot only 37 percent from the field (26 in the first half) and 2 of 14 from the 3-point line.
“We didn’t hit the shots we needed to,” Brown said.
With all five starters back out, Aggies surged again at the start of the second half with a 13-3 run.
But the Anteaters scratched back into the battle.
Utah State will find an immediate remedy today against California State University at Fullerton. The Titans are 3-14 on the season, 2-5 in conference. Tip-off will be 8 p.m. tonight in Fullerton.
After tonight, the Aggies will get a chance at immediate revenge against the Anteaters. UCI will travel to Logan on Thursday after the team plays at Long Beach State University this weekend.
Morrill said he can’t wait to introduce the Anteaters to the Aggie fans.
“We’ll return the favor in terms of crowd,” he said. “It would be nothing better than for them to see what the Spectrum is about.”