Aggies fall to Fresno State on Senior Night
An 18-point first-half lead wasn’t enough as the Utah State men’s basketball team lost 86-85 to Fresno State on Saturday in Logan.
“You have to avoid beating yourself before you can beat your opponent,” said head coach Tim Duryea. “That was a first-class lesson in beating yourself. In every conceivable way.”
The Aggies had a chance to tie the game after junior wing Jalen Moore was fouled on a 3-point shot from the corner with 3.8 seconds left, but he missed the third free throw and Fresno State rebounded the miss.
“That’s a tough spot to be in when you have to make three to tie,” Duryea said. “It should not have come down to that. Shouldn’t even come close to down to that.”
The loss drops the Aggies to 15-15 on the season and 7-12 in Mountain West play.
“You score 85 on your home court, shoot 45 percent from the field, 45 from 3, get to the foul line a ton, make over 70 percent of your free throws, outrebound your opponent and lose the game,” Duryea said. “It goes to the top of the list of frustrating losses from this season.”
A 3-point shot by senior guard Chris Smith gave the Aggies a seven-point lead with just over 12 minutes left in the second half. The Bulldogs responded with a 3 of their own less than 30 seconds later to close the gap back to four.
Neither team led by more than six points the rest of the game as the two teams swapped the lead three times and were tied four other times in the final seven minutes.
Fresno State claimed the final lead change after senior guard Marvelle Harris knocked down two free throws to give the Bulldogs a one-point lead with 20 seconds left in the game. The Aggies were unable to respond as sophomore guard Julion Pearre turned the ball over after absorbing contact in the lane on the ensuing possession.
“Julion had the hot hand tonight,” Smith said. “I’m pretty sure he got fouled on that, but you can’t do anything about it now.”
Questions about the officials have been a concern in many games across the Mountain West this season.
“It’s been a frustrating year with, obviously, some frustrating losses and it’s been a frustrating year with the officials as well, to be honest,” Duryea said. “You can look across the league and they have not had their best year.”
Despite the non-call at the end, it was multiple mental mistakes by the Aggies that led to the defeat.
“They just ramped up their defense a little bit and we didn’t handle it like we’re supposed to,” Moore said.
Utah State was loose with the ball, committing 18 turnovers in the game, including 12 in the second half alone. Fresno State took advantage, scoring 21 fast break points and 27 points off turnovers.
“We just made horrible turnovers in the second half,” Duryea said. “We’ve played those guys two times and points off turnovers are 45-5 and we have two close losses. It’s ridiculous.”
Harris, the preseason MW player of the year, dominated the second half on Saturday, putting up 27 points in the period. He finished the game with 34 points, five assists, six rebounds and four steals.
“Time and time again, whether it was in transition, or off of a turnover, against man, against zone, he just went and laid it up,” Duryea said.
Utah State led by as many as 18 points in the first half, using an extended 31-7 run to turn an early deficit into the lead.
Pearre connected on consecutive 3-point shots with just over 11 minutes left in the half to initiate the run, taking advantage of a defensive breakdown on the first and knocking down a step-back shot in the corner after spinning away from a defender on the second.
He finished with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
Moore paced the Aggies with 22 points and added four assists and six rebounds. Smith finished with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Senior Trace Cureton made his first career start in the final home game of his career. Fellow-seniors Smith, Darius Perkins and Grayson Moore were also honored before the game.
With the loss, USU falls to ninth in the MW. The next game for the Aggies will be Wednesday at noon in the first game of the MW tournament in Las Vegas.
– thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @tomcat340