Aggie Notebook
Bell and Miller not enough for Fresno
There was no Quinton Hosely, but Fresno State brought back two players who played key roles in trashing USU’s senior night last year-point guard Kevin Bell and shooting guard Eddie Miller.
Both played well enough to keep the game interesting, even though the remainder of the Fresno State lineup had a forgettable performance.
Starting forward Nedeljko Golubovic was 1-of-4 shooting and grabbed one rebound in his time on the floor. Hector Hernandez, the other starting forward, led the ‘Dogs with eight rebounds but was just 2-of-5. Swingman Dwight O’Neil was 1-for-8 shooting.
Fresno coach Steve Cleveland was left with Bell and Miller. Bell played all 40 minutes and wore Aggie point guards Kris Clark and Desmond Stevens out. Miller, a 3-point specialist with a high release point, was 4-of-8 shooting treys.
“I’m sure they’re glad (USU’s) Jaycee (Carroll) is a senior,” USU head coach Stew Morrill said, “and I’m damn glad Kevin Bell is a senior.”
Bell scored 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting, driving into the lane whenever he wanted. He went to the free-throw line only three times all game, a rarity for a penetrating guard of his type. As a team, Fresno had 11 free-throw attempts, half as many as the home team.
Bell had four assists and four turnovers in the game, but three of those turnovers came in a spurt from the 12:36 mark to the 12:13 mark, when the quicker Stevens had just been put into the game and was doing a better job staying in front of Bell than Clark had been.
With Bell in a funk, USU got out to its biggest lead of the game, 29-10. Then Bell woke up and helped fuel a Fresno run which got the visiting team to within 37-30 with one minute to go.
By the second half, everyone in the building knew one of Fresno’s two guards floating around the perimeter had to shoot for the ‘Dogs to win. And still, Bell and Miller got open and drained shots to keep their team within shouting distance of the Aggies.
Newbold makes key defensive plays
Aggie freshman Tyler Newbold led the Aggies in two statistical categories: assists, with five, which is good, and turnovers, with four, which is bad.
Newbold also tied with Carroll for the team lead in steals, with three, and blocked 6-foot-10-inch Bulldog center Brandon Webster’s shot, flying over from the weak side when Webster was posting up down low. Newbold contributed in so many small ways that it might be easy to forget he was just 1-of-4 shooting the ball.
The other freshman small forward, Pooh Williams, continues to see his playing time grow late this season. Williams had 19 minutes and drew some praise from Morrill after the game.
Williams got more face time on the scoreboard-a clip of him yelling and then getting pushed in the back of the head by an unidentified person was replayed repeatedly.
Aggie point guards 0-for-7 from the field
Starter Kris Clark finished 0-for-4 shooting but had a solid game nonetheless with three assists and, most importantly, zero turnovers.
Backup Desmond Stevens was 0-for-3, with four assists and two turnovers. Other than a brief period in the first half when the change of pace from Clark to Stevens seemed to throw Bell off his game for a few minutes, both players were torched by the Fresno senior.
If Stevens had made a different decision on two plays, his stat line might have been much prettier, with four points, four assists and no turnovers. Both of his turnovers came when Stevens was driving with a lane to the hoop and then decided to kick the ball out instead of lay it in. Both times the recipient of the pass was surprised to see the ball coming his way.
-graham.terry@aggiemail.usu.edu