Ags keep it rolling in Hawaii
Four games in six days did not slow down the Utah State men’s basketball team as the Aggies went 4-0 over that span to improve to 5-0 on the season — tied for USU’s best start since the 1966-67 season.
USU 71, Hawaii-Hilo 60
Led by Spencer Nelson’s career-high 17 points, USU wrapped up an eventful weekend with a 71-60 victory over tournament-host the University of Hawaii-Hilo on Sunday night in Hilo.
With the victory, the Aggies captured the Hilo Shootout title, as Utah State was the only team to win all three of its games in the round-robin tournament.
While the Aggies picked up their fifth straight victory, they struggled to pull away from the Division II Vulcans. Hawaii-Hilo was within striking distance the majority of the game, forcing the Aggies into more turnovers (16) than their two previous games combined (15).
Senior center Mike Puzey helped the Aggies get off to a fast start, scoring all 10 of his points in the first half. Puzey dominated the paint, hitting 5-of-7 shots, before having to sit out the second half after reaggravating his groin injury.
Kyle Bartholomew led the Vulcans with 14 points, while Derek Mgbeke added 13 points.
Aggie point guard Mark Brown was named the tournament MVP, with power forward Desmond Penigar joining him on the all-tournament team. Hawaii-Hilo’s Ryan Abrahams, Drake’s J.J. Sola and Greg Danielson, Vermont’s Taylor Coppenrath were also named to the all-tourney team.
USU 73, Drake 61
Clutch play proved to be the difference for the Aggies as USU went on two five-point runs late in the second half of USU’s 73-61 victory over the University of Drake on Saturday night in Hilo, Hawaii.
With USU clinging to a 54-53 lead with a little under eight minutes in the game, the Aggies scored back-to-back buckets — including a three-pointer by Brown — and never looked back.
“They [Utah State] are a very good team, and we were right there with them, but in the last four minutes we had too many breakdowns,” said Drake Head Coach Kurt Kanaskie in a press release. “They knew exactly what they wanted to do down the stretch.”
Brown continued his hot play to begin the season, scoring a game-high 18 points, while dishing out six assists. Penigar added 16 points, and Cardell Butler chipped in with 12 points off the bench.
Sola paced the Bulldogs with 17 points, followed by Greg Danielson’s 14.
USU 62, Vermont 59
University of Vermont leading scorer Taylor Coppenrath enjoyed a monster day for the Catamounts, but the Aggie defense put the clamps on him when they needed to.
Down 62-59 with seven seconds to go in the game, USU’s Spencer Nelson helped force Coppenrath into walking with the basketball to seal the Aggie victory Friday night in USU’s opening game of the Hilo Shootout.
Penigar paced the USU offense with 16 points, including a pair of free throws that put the Aggies up 62-59. Brown added 15 points, and a game-high six assists.
Coppenrath finished with game-highs in points (23) and rebounds (12), while Catamount guard Matt Sheftic dropped in 16 points.
USU 86, Whitman 52
It wasn’t the way Aggie Head Coach Stew Morrill hoped to start USU’s home campaign, but it was an Aggie win nonetheless.
The Aggies overcame a sluggish start to outscore Division III Whitman College 52-25 in the second half en route to an 86-52 drubbing of the Missionaries Nov. 26 in the Spectrum.
“We came out and competed a little bit in the second half,” Morrill said. “That was good, but I was extremely disappointed in the first half in terms of our home opener and our concentration level.”
With the victory, the Aggies won their ninth straight home opener and improved to 2-0 on the season, while Whitman fell to 1-3.
However, it wasn’t easy for the Aggies — at least in the first half.
USU jumped out to first-half leads of 12-4 and 30-19, but the Missionaries were able to stay in the game thanks to solid shooting from beyond the arc.
Whitman drained four three-pointers in the first half to USU’s zero, including back-to-back treys to cut the Aggie lead to 32-27 with under a minute to go in the half.
Despite a blistering start by Penigar (13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the half), the Aggies found themselves only up 34-27 at the break. Besides shooting well from long distance, the smaller Missionaries out-rebounded the Aggies 19-17 in the first half.
USU would respond in the second half, though.
After Whitman cut the Aggie advantage to 40-36 three minutes into the second half, Utah State went on a 10-2 run to take control of the game.
“We just started playing aggressive, and we just took them out of their game,” Penigar said.
Play aggressive USU did, as the Aggies came out energized after the break. One player who played with a lot of energy in the second half was forward Chad Evans. Evans scored five points in USU’s 10-2 run, including a three-point play, and scored two of his baskets after offensive rebounds.
“Here’s a guy who starts 18 games for us last year, [and] doesn’t play at all at Illinois State, and then he comes in and competes hard tonight,” Morrill said of Evans. “That says a little bit about his maturity level.”
Besides shooting a whopping .667 in the second half, the Aggies also dominated the glass after being out-rebounded the first half. USU won the battle of the boards 40-26, 14 of which were offensive rebounds.
Penigar led the Aggies with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds, while Nate Harris (11 points) and Brown (10 points) also finished in double figures.
Casey Nelson was the only Whitman player to score more than 10 points as he finished with 11 points.
For the game, the Aggies were able to shoot nearly 60 percent, thanks in large part to a 2.3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. USU finished the game with 23 assists.
“We’re still trying to find our identity, but once we get going I think we’ll be a good team,” Evans said.
–jasonwturner@cc.usu.edu
Utah State´s Cardell Butler goes for a layup through a flood of Whitman Missionaries Nov. 26 in the Spectrum. (Photo by John Zsiray)