Ag basketball loses to IPFW
After a 64-59 loss to Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne Tuesday night, the Utah State basketball team will be practicing Wednesday, head coach Stew Morrill said.
Trailing by as many as 10 points in the second half, the Ags rallied to take a 54-51 lead in the waning minutes of the game.
The Mastodons found center David Simon on a set inbound play. Simon then passed the ball to the wing for the second of two big 3-pointers from IPFW’s Peter Campbell to seal the win.
“He’s their star player,” Aggie forward John Neil said of Simon. “That’s who we emphasized guarding in practice, but we underestimated their outside shooters.”
Simon finished the game with 16, while Campbell added 16 more off the bench.
“It’s college basketball and, if you’re a good team, you find a way to win these games,” Morrill said. “We’ve won some good games, but we’re not a good team yet.”
Coming off big wins over Utah and BYU, losing to the Mastodons was disappointing for the Ags, but Morrill said he wouldn’t make excuses for his team.
“Excuses are for losers,” he said. “You can talk about the travel and the emotions of the in-state games, but that’s a bunch of crap.”
In the end, USU forward John Neil said the team simply “underestimated” IPFW.
“I think sometimes you have to learn things the hard way,” he said. “We’re going to have to make this a learning experience.”
USU was led by forwards Nate Harris and Spencer Nelson, who finished with 20 points apiece. But the inside duo received little help from the rest of their teammates, as no other Aggie finished with more than seven points.
“We just can’t have that many guys not have a line at all,” Morrill said.
Freshman guard Jaycee Carroll, a top offensive threat for Utah State, finished the game with only four points and starting point guard David Pak ended the night scoreless.
“If he’s going to start at the point, he’s got to do more,” Morrill said of Pak. “He’s got to make some shots, some assists.”
After five-straight points from Nelson to start the games, the Ags were outplayed for the remainder of the first half and trailed by eight going into the locker room.
“We just didn’t play with a lot of energy,” Morrill said after the game. “We dug ourselves a hole.”
Nelson finished the first half with 10 points, while guard Beau Bauer was the difference for IPFW, shooting 4-for-5 from behind the arc.
Poor shooting (34 percent) in the first half, coupled with the a series of blocked shots in the paint were the cause of the Aggies’ woes.
“We didn’t go up very strong and they made some nice plays,” Morrill said of the Aggies’ offensive problems in the post.
In all, the Mastodons recorded seven blocks, three of which came from 6-foot-10 inch center Simon.
Harris added eight more points for Utah State in the first half, but no other Aggie scored more than three points.
Carroll, who averaged more than 13 points per contest going into the game, was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting in the first half.
With the loss, the Ags drop to 5-2 on the year.
The Aggies return home for a game against Weber State Saturday in the Spectrum, before heading out on the road again for games against BYU and conference opponent Idaho.
Saturday’s contest against the Wild Cats will tip-off at 7:05 p.m.
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Point guard Calvin Brown pushes the ball up court against BYU last week in the Spectrum. The Aggies suffered a disappointing lost against Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, Tuesday. (Photo by John Zsiray)