A titanic upset: not this time
Utah State basketball Head Coach Stew Morrill knew it was bound to happen. Forward Desmond Penigar and guard Tony Brown were going to have off nights.
Penigar and Brown combined for 13 points, scoring 11 and 2, respectively, as the Aggies defeated the Cal State Fullerton Titans 60-45 Thursday in the Spectrum.
“The bench was the whole key to the game,” Morrill said. “Our bench really did a good job [Thursday]. They game out and played with a lot of energy. They were excited to be out there and played aggressively.”
Freshman Kevin Williams and senior Brennan Ray led the bench with seven and eight points, respectively. Ray also finished with 10 rebounds, tying a career-high.
Ray, who had been struggling from the free throw line late in games, went 6 for 6 from the line.
“I can make them and I’m feeling more confidence,” Ray said. “I’ve shot who knows how many free throws, and if I just trust [my arm] and stop thinking about it, they should go in.’
Morrill said other key bench players included freshman Calvin Brown, who was working hard to push the ball up the court and make something happen and junior Mike Ahmad who came in and played hard.
Calvin finished with two points and two assists in 11 minutes of play and Ahmad finished with four points in 10 minutes.
“We had people come off the bench and play tremendous [Thursday],” senior Jeremy Vague said. “That’s awesome.”
Another key factor in the Aggie victory was the play of Vague who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
The center finished the first half with 10 points.
“The first couple of times I had the ball passed in the post they were sagging off two or three feet and standing in the key,” Vague said. “I might as well take it at them and score the ball if they aren’t going to guard me.”
Even though Tony’s two points were a season-low, Morrill was not disappointed.
“Good. That’s great,” Morrill said. “That means some other people are doing a good job.”
Tony did have seven assists against Fullerton.
“Tony is a really unselfish player,” Williams said. “With those seven assists, it shows he’s trying to help get other people in the game.”
Morrill said the bench played more minutes Thursday than in any other game this season, and they deserved it.
Williams said the bench having bigger roles in games is crucial because as the season moves on the starters will continue to get tired.
Despite starting off in an eerily similar pace as the 65-51 loss at Fullerton, the Aggies gained momentum off a drive to the basket by Calvin with 8:42 remaining in the first half, giving USU an 18-15 lead.
Utah State went on a 14-6 run, capped off by a running shot by Williams at the buzzer.
Forward Pape Sow led the Titans with 17 points off 6-of-15 shooting, the only player on CSF to score in double digits.
Sow also pulled down nine rebounds, seven on the defensive end.
Guard Kevin Richardson also added nine points for his team.
The Titans were held to shooting .362 from the field and were outrebounded 38-26.
USU will look for continued play from the bench as well as the starters Saturday as it hosts the University of California Riverside.
The Aggies trampled the Highlanders 68-42 in California, but Morrill is still concerned about the matchup.
“I expect us to have more energy and I expect us to come out with a little bit of fire,” Morrill said. “Riverside is going to come in and try to show us they are a lot better than what we saw down there.”
Morrill said the Aggies just had a great game at Riverside and everything seemed to go their way.
Following the UCR game, the Aggies will play their final home game of the season Saturday, Feb. 23 against the University of Idaho.
It will mark the last home game of seniors Tony Brown, Vague and Ray.