A memorable game for all the weird reasons
There haven’t been many crazier nights at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Whether it was the fact that the Aggies scored 100 points for the first time in five seasons or the fact that senior forward Tai Wesley broke the backboard during halftime warm-ups, the Spectrum was an all-around circus Wednesday night.
Behind 20 points and eight rebounds from Wesley, and 20 points from senior guard Brian Green, the Aggies crushed the NAIA Montana-Western Bulldogs, 100-66. USU jumped out to an early lead in the first half and never looked back, as they had a stranglehold on the Bulldogs for the entire 40 minutes. However, all Aggie head coach Stew Morrill wanted was to avoid having only one game in a week in back-to-back weeks.
“That game served its purpose,” Morrill said. “We did not need to have two weeks with one game, and just be laboring in terms of practice this time of year. It’s nice to have a one-game week, but not two weeks in a row. As I told them before the game, every basketball player ever, if you ask them if they would want to play a game or practice, not one of them would want to practice.”
To start the game, senior forward Pooh Williams found Wesley down low for an easy layup that sparked an 11-2 run, capped by a baseline dunk from junior forward Brady Jardine. The Bulldogs would go on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to four points, but the Aggies responded with a 20-3 run. Wesley got another easy two points near the basket to spur the run and one of Green’s six 3-pointers capped the run with just less than seven minutes to play in the first half.
“We wanted to just have fun,” Wesley said. “We wanted a game like that and that’s what we did tonight. We just went out and had fun. It was a circus, but it was a fun night.”
The Aggies shot 56.9 percent from the field and 59.1 percent from 3-point land on the night. Wesley and Jardine each hit a 3-point basket, but it was controlled and within the offense.
“I didn’t think we treated it as a non-Division I game, where we did a bunch of stupid stuff,” Morrill said. “We played within ourselves pretty well and a lot of guys got to play. Obviously we shot the ball pretty well.”
Then things got a little bit crazy. During halftime warm-ups, Wesley has a tradition of getting at least two dunks down before the officials come out. On the second dunk, Wesley shattered the backboard, and chaos ensued.
“It felt like something hit me in the face, and I thought I broke the back part or something like that,” Wesley said. “I looked at the thing and it was shattered. I didn’t know what to do. I felt bad. I felt like I was in trouble. And then I kinda celebrated. It’s my first backboard ever broken.”
It was a first for Morrill as well.
“I’ve never had a backboard broken in 25 years as a head coach, let alone two,” he said. “From all reports it wasn’t a hang-on-the-rim-throw-down dunk. The rim must have been ready to break.”
The facilities crew also broke the replacement backboard as they tried to erect it, and a temporary practice standard had to be brought out. Despite the 45-minute delay, the Aggies didn’t miss a beat and came out firing in the second half.
Williams hit a 3-pointer on the first Aggie possession of the second half and the Bulldogs never cut the lead to below double digits. All 12 Aggie players recorded minutes in the game against the Bulldogs, and with the exception of junior guard Brockeith Pane, put at least one point on the board. Included in that scoring was freshman forward Brad Brown, who entered the game late in the second half following chants of his name from the crowd, and scored two points on a pair of free throws. Jardine finished with 11 points and four rebounds, while senior forward Nate Bendall narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.
The Aggies’ focus now turns toward the No. 23 St. Mary’s Gaels for the ESPN Bracketbuster on the road.
“The St. Mary’s game should be a fun challenge for us,” Morrill said. “We’ve played three top 25 teams all on the road this year. This will be the third one. Obviously you’re the underdog. You’re up against it. They haven’t lost a home game. It’s a challenge, but I think our guys are excited about it and looking forward to it.”
While the Aggies were handling the Bulldogs, the St. Mary’s Gaels stumbled on the road in West Coast Conference play to last place San Diego, 74-66. Despite the loss, the Aggies know they will need to bring their best if they even want a chance to compete with the Gaels who have defeated the Aggies in each of the past two seasons.
“We are obviously very familiar with them and the games we have had with them the last several years have been tough outings for us,” Morrill said. “The main thing for our guys is that they approach this game as an opportunity and are excited about getting to go compete. That is the way we need to approach it as a team.”
Tip-off against the Gaels is slated for 7 p.m. on Saturday in Moraga, Calif. inside the McKeon Pavillion. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu