Aggies scrape by Montana Tech
After a disappointing Western Athetlic Conference loss to New Mexico State on Saturday, the USU men’s basketball team looked to bounce back against NAIA opponent Montana Tech on Tuesday.
Despite trailing at halftime — and for a good portion of the entire game — the Aggies pulled out a non-conference victory over the Orediggers, 70-58, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Because of a missed pre-game meal, senior guard Brockieth Pane and junior forward Kyisean Reed did not start and did not play the first four minutes of the game.
USU held four one-point leads throughout the first half but trailed 34-30 at halftime.
“Monday, after practice, I had some oral surgery, and that was better than what I just saw,” Morrill said. “So, that’s about what I thought of that game. Give Montana Tech credit, they came in and did what they had to do, but we were not ready to play.”
USU shot 3 of 13 from 3-point range for 23 percent and hit just over 39 percent overall in the first half.
“Montana Tech just ran us around and made shots; in the first half, they made us look stupid,” Morrill said. “The only thing we could do was get up and pressure them, and fortunately they missed some shots, and we got going a little bit and got out of there with a win.”
Sophomore guard Preston Medlin, who finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, led the Aggies in the first half with 13 points. Freshman center Jordan Stone was the second-leading scorer with six points.
“He was really upset,” Medlin said of Morrill at halftime. “We were down at half to a team we should be up against. Obviously, they did great tonight, but he was obviously mad when we came in. He yelled at us a little bit.”
Morrill was visibly upset from the bench throughout the game.
“I was mostly pissed,” Morrill said. “Disappointed was the other night, when we just frittered away a game we were right in. Tonight, it was just generally irritated. We weren’t ready to play. You can find all the excuses but, to me, there really shouldn’t be any.”
Montana Tech came roaring out of halftime to take its largest lead of the game 11 seconds into the second half.
Senior forward Morgan Grim committed a turnover, and Montana Tech senior guard AJ Paine capitalized with a fast-break layup plus a foul shot. Paine did not convert the free throw, but the Orediggers came up with the offensive rebound and Brian Cummings, who finished with 11 points, hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Montana Tech up 39-30.
Grim wasn’t the only post player to struggle against the Orediggers. Morrill subbed in every forward and center on the lineup, including little-used junior forward Igor Premasunac.
“Our posts were struggling so bad I was trying every post we had,” Morrill said. “Our post guys were getting beat off the dribble — they weren’t rebounding.”
Stone logged all six of his points in 11 minutes but posed problems for USU defensively.
“Jordan Stone probably played the best of any of our post guys, but he just had match-up problems,” Morrill said. “He was guarding 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 guys, and they are taking him off the dribble. So, he’s doing some goods things, he’s just a real liability matchup-wise, defensively.”
The Orediggers led the Aggies for the final five minutes of the first half and the first six minutes of the second half, until Pane made a layup for two of his 16 points. The Orediggers cut USU’s lead as close as two points, with six minutes remaining, before USU finished the game on a 12-2 run.
“We just didn’t come out ready to play tonight, and we picked it up in the second half,” Medlin said. “I think we just need to come out with a lot more energy and come out prepared.”
USU finished the night shooting 4 of 18 from 3-point land for 22 percent and just under 48 percent overall.
“They just kept playing that zone on us, and we weren’t making shots,” Medlin said.
USU has four games remaining in the regular season, with two at home and two on the road.
“We showed our vulnerability physically and mentally,” Morrill said. “It’s been an issue for us. If this thing is going to have a good ending, going down the stretch, those are two things (we need to do). We have to be tougher physically and mentally. That’s about what it boils down to.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu