Aggies blow by ‘Runners
It wasn’t pretty, but the Aggies took care of business against the Cal-State Bakersfield Roadrunners Saturday night.
Senior guard Tyler Newbold found his way out of a miserable shooting slump as he finished with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point range to lead the Aggies over the Roadrunners, 77-58.
“I obviously shot the ball well tonight; snapped out of a little funk I was in,” Newbold said. “I’ve been working hard and I’ve been shooting a lot of extra shots at the gym to try and get my shot to fall so I can help my team that way. I was able to do that tonight and it feels great.”
The Aggies struggled with their offensive efficiency, but they were able to overcome their poor shooting percentage with hustle plays.
“Not a real pretty game,” Aggie head coach Stew Morrill said. “We did what we had to do to get a win. We’re a long ways away from being very consistent in our play. We’re playing hard. It’s not that we’re not playing hard, we’re just kind of spurty and we miss a lot of open shots. We had some silly turnovers; didn’t get back sometimes.”
The Aggies have struggled so far this season with consistency and their effort against the Roadrunners was no exception. In the first half the Aggies only hit 38 percent from floor compared to 45 percent from the floor in the second half. The Aggies were absolutely dismal from beyond-the-arc in the first half as they hit 12 percent of their 3-pointers compared to 50 percent 3-point shooting in the second half.
The Aggies were able to hold the ‘Runners to 23 percent shooting from the field and 0-for-3 from beyond-the arc. ‘Runners’ leading scorer, sophomore guard Stephon Carter who is averaging 19 points per game, only had two points at intermission.
“We were good defensively the first half,” Morrill said. “We were really good defensively.”
The Aggies were not as good defensively in the second half however, as they allowed the ‘Runners shoot over 50 percent from both the field and the 3-point line in the second half.
“We missed a lot of open shots and we didn’t get back on some turnovers and they just laid it up,” Morrill said. “That’s how you give up 50-something percent. We weren’t reacting very much on a turnover and sometimes on a missed shot there was nobody back.”
One of the few bright spots was the Aggies play in the post. Senior forwards Tai Wesley and Nate Bendall finished with double-doubles. Wesley notched 16 points to go with 14 rebounds, while Bendall scored 13 points to go a career-high 14 rebounds. Junior forward Brady Jardine finished with 11 boards and six points. Overall, the Aggies out-rebounded the ‘Runners, 55-27.
“We played hard,” Morrill said. “We’re playing hard. As a coach that is always what you are harping about is playing hard enough and we’re doing that. We’ve just gotta relax a little bit, make some shots, and take better care of the ball and obviously get a little better play at the point guard, but I think we will. I think we will. I think that’ll happen.”
Junior Brockeith Pane did not start against the ‘Runners, and although Morrill wouldn’t name names during post-game interviews, it was obvious that Pane was in trouble along with senior forward Pooh Williams who did not start as well.
“We had few guys make an error in judgment,” Morrill said. “It was a responsibility reminder is how I would put. I’m not going to get into particulars. I’m not going to name names. This isn’t junior high. Once in a while you’ve got to remind guys of their responsibilities and what’s expected.”
Although Williams did not shoot well, he did finish with 12 points in 19 minutes of play. Pane went 0-for-3 from the field in 14 minutes of play.
James Walker III got the start and only managed to score one point. Walker also had trouble with ‘Runners ¾-court-press as he committed four turnovers on the night.
“They are doing the best that they can,” Newbold said. “They are making a lot of mistakes, but they’ve done a lot of good things too. Which Coach Morrill’s system there is a learning curve, and they are doing their best every day in practice. One of the biggest things we need to get better at is handling pressure and not just throwing the ball to the defense and making a good pass when there is a double-team. That’s one thing we all need to get better at.”
The Aggies will have plenty of time to prepare for their next game, as they face in-state rival in the Utah Valley University Wolverines on Saturday.
“We’ve got to get better,” Morrill said. “It doesn’t feel like we are 7-2. It doesn’t quite feel like that. Our expectation level is maybe sometimes too high. Maybe that is part of the problem, we expect too much and they feel a little bit of that pressure. I’m not sure, but we’ve got to get better. Next week is finals and we’ve got all that going on, but we’ve still got to try and get better. We’ll have to play better at Utah Valley to win. I really believe that.”
The Aggies game against the Wolverines will be their final meeting against an in-state opponent. Tip-off against the Wolverines is set for 7:05 p.m. at the UCCU Center in Orem.
-ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu