Aggies fall short against Fresno State
The Utah State men’s basketball team lost its third straight game on Saturday, 79-76 to Fresno State in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The loss came despite the Aggies highest point turnout in three games. Head coach Stew Morrill said he was happy with the teams offense but was not satisfied with the defensive effort.
“We played good enough offense to win the game, but we just couldn’t guard them,” Morrill said. “Our defense was lacking.”
Utah State came back from a 16-point deficit in the first half to take the lead early in the second half. However they could not hold on down the stretch.
“There were stretches when we made some stops and we made a few shots, and there was some guys who came up with some big shots” Morrill said.
The Aggies could not slow the three-point attack from the Bulldogs who netted 11 shots from behind the arc.
“I feel like we started out too slow and they got hot from the three point line,” senior guard Tenale Roland said.
Utah State had 42 points in the paint, compared to Fresno State’s 28.
“With our offensive stats in general I would have expected to have won,” Morrill said. “But they made threes and we couldn’t guard the ball.”
The Aggies shot more efficiently from the field than the Bulldogs. USU shot 50.8 percent and Fresno State shot 43.9 percent. However, the Bulldogs didn’t miss a free throw and made five more three-pointers than the Aggies.
Kyle Davis had a career-high in rebounds as he pulled down 15 boards. He also gathered 14 points. Jarred Shaw led the Aggies in points with 18, while Roland racked up 12 and Spencer Butterfield had 10.
The loss drops the Aggies 5-10 in Mountain West play on the season going into a two-game road stretch next week. The road trip starts in New Mexico on Tuesday.
“I’m up for the challenge,” Shaw said. “I don’t back down from anyone. I look at it as another opportunity to get a win. So I’ll be going down with that mindset and hopefully we can get a win.”
– dahdahjm@gmail.com
Twitter: @dahdahusu