Aggie defense tops first-place Cowboys
Utah State held Wyoming to 18 second-half points on its way to a 56-44 win in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Tuesday.
The strong defensive effort helped the Aggies become just the second team in the conference to beat the Cowboys this season, bringing USU to within a game of first place in the Mountain West.
Both teams started the night without any offensive rhythm. Wyoming led 4-2 six minutes into the first half before junior guard Chris Smith snapped the scoring drought with a three-pointer. It would be the game’s only lead change.
While USU began rolling, Wyoming’s offense continued to struggle, due in large part to the Aggies’ zone defense.
“We were good, we were active, we were getting deflections,” said USU head coach Stew Morrill. “We played quite a bit of zone obviously but we mixed in some man just enough to keep them a little off-guard.”
USU devoted special attention to Cowboys star forward Larry Nance Jr, whose late-game heroics boosted Wyoming over New Mexico in overtime Saturday.
Nance, averaging 16 points per game this season, scored 10 of the Cowboys’ first 13 points. The Aggies allowed the senior just four more points the rest of the game.
“He’s a great player,” said freshman forward David Collette. “He’s got a lot of skill. We just executed our game plan and contained him well.”
Collette, often responsible for defending Nance in the post, finished the night with 16 points and five rebounds, all while committing only one foul.
“The zone helped,” Morrill said. “He (David) wasn’t isolated man-to-man the whole night, so that certainly helped.”
The Aggies’ suffocating defense held Wyoming to 36 percent field goal shooting, including a dismal 7-of-23 from beyond the arc. Forcing the Cowboys to kick the ball outside, rather than permitting them to dump it into Nance in the post, allowed USU to win the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Wyoming 32-28.
“We’re just tired of getting yelled at, so we just wanted to rebound,” said Smith, who led the Aggies with six rebounds while adding 13 points and dishing out three assists.
The win brings USU’s conference record to 5-3, locked in a five-way tie for third place one game behind San Diego State and Wyoming. The conference will undoubtedly undergo several shifts in the coming weeks, but the Aggies can help themselves with a win Saturday in San Diego.
“We can play,” Collette said. “Don’t count us out.”
– logantjones@gmail.com
Twitter: @logantj