Aggie season ends in defeat
The Utah State men’s basketball season has come to an end in Las Vegas.
“It was a good college basketball game,” said USU coach Stew Morrill. “All the credit in the world to Wyoming. They’ve got an experienced, veteran team. I think they’re playing real well right now. Tough loss for us, tough way to end the season.”
The Aggies lost to the Wyoming Cowboys 67-65 when a 3/4-court heave by USU sophomore wing Jalen Moore went over the top of the backboard.
USU trailed by seven with 48 seconds to play but Wyoming missed some key free throws and Utah State hit some deep jumpers to pull within striking distance. In the end, the comeback came up short and 17-year head coach Morrill ended his career with a tournament loss.
“I thought our defense towards the tail end of the game … was probably the difference,” said Wyoming head coach Larry Shyatt. “I wish Stew the best. You don’t know what you have till you don’t have it anymore. We’re losing a great one, a great coach and a great man.”
Although the tournament is held in Nevada a predominately gold-and-brown crowd helped the Cowboys keep up their energy for a full 40 minutes. Wyoming was led by guard Josh Adams who scored 19 points had four rebounds and six assists. Cowboy guard Charles Hankerson Jr. added 16 points of his own and senior forward Larry Nance Jr. dropped 13 plus seven rebounds.
“The Wyoming fans really came out in full force tonight,” Hankerson said. “We just wanted to make them proud. We’re fighting for our careers now. Every game is crucial, that’s our mindset.”
The two teams were tied at the half but Wyoming’s 55 percent shooting percentage was too much for Utah State to handle. The Aggies went on two nearly three-minute scoring draughts and the Cowboys put up enough points to withstand a run. Moore led all USU scorers and rebounders. He had 17 points and seven rebounds on 6 of 10 shooting.
“We had to try and come back,” Moore said. “We almost dug ourselves out of that hole but we couldn’t quite get there. We were just giving them layups and on the other end, they were stopping us. We dug ourselves in too big of a hole to overcome this time and we couldn’t get out of it.”
Freshman David Collette had 11 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes of action after sitting much of the first half in foul trouble. In the second half Collette’s dunks helped to energize the team but his efforts weren’t enough.
“They’re champions,” said Shyatt about his team. “They’ve had a great season. I think they’re the best defensive team in the league. If they’re not the best, they’re one of the best for certain.”
– Kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com
Twitter: @kalen_taylor