Aggies grind out victory over Broncos, prepare for Trojans.
The Utah State Aggies (10-2) got one of their best nights from the starters on Wednesday, as they defeated the Western Michigan Broncos, 78-57 in day two of the World Vision Invitational sponsored by Gossner Foods. The wings played especially well, as seniors Pooh Williams and Tyler Newbold finished the night with 18 and 12 points respectively. For the second consecutive night, the Aggies were able to put together an all-around complete game.
“When we’re playing together and we’re setting screens for each other and we’re hitting the open guy and we’re hitting shots like we were, and we have balanced scoring like that, we are a really tough team to beat,” Newbold said. “It’s hard for teams to prepare for us defensively, and it really helps us as a team.”
The Aggies played well in the first half, but they had a hard time matching the intensity and physical play of the Broncos which in turn led to a marginal lead at halftime.
“I think the biggest thing was they were kind of knocking us around in the first half,” Newbold said. “They were more physical than us in the first half which is not a good thing. Coach got on us at halftime and we came out and played a lot more physical in the second half and I think that was the biggest key to the turn-a-round.”
The Aggies only allowed the Broncos to shoot 44 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point land, but the Broncos had more shot attempts in the first half than the Aggies.
“We didn’t play as well in the first half as we needed to, because they were more physical than us,” Newbold said. “We didn’t respond well to it and that’s a credit to them. They came to play, they were excited to play, and we’ve got to make sure with every game we play we don’t have any let-down and that we can play a full game the way that we need to.”
The Broncos cut the Aggie lead to two on a lay-up from freshman center Matt Stainbrook ,but the Aggies responded right back with mini-runs of their own and eventually pushing the lead to double-digits.
“We got beat off the dribble too much in the first half,” Morrill said. “Second half we did a better job. They were getting downhill off of ball screens a lot. They have some good penetrators, but we helped a little better in the second half. We were solid defensively. I wouldn’t say we were great, but we were solid.”
The Aggies held freshman forward Juwan Howard, who scored 24 points the previous night against Troy, to only two points. Sophomore forward Nate Hutcheson and Stainbrook were the only Broncos to reach double-digits with 12 and 10 points respectively.
‘They’re a really good team,” Newbold said. “They played hard. I don’t think they ever quit. They came to play.”
The Aggies will now prepare for the Troy Trojans, who fell to the Idaho State Bengals 77-73 in game one of the Gossner Foods sponsored tournament, and the short turn-around doesn’t seem to bother the Aggies much.
“We do a really good job in our shoot-a-rounds of preparing for what their tendencies are,” Newbold said. “When you only have half a day to prepare, you’re not going to get everything that they do down. But, you’ve just got to understand, what their tendencies are, and what individuals guys on their team want to do.”
The Aggies will be relying on energy and heart as they face the Trojans. Fatigue is setting in from the 3-day tournament and the Trojans appear to be a team that likes to run.
“You better not be tired, because they’re gonna be flying,” Morrill said. “What we’ve always prided ourselves in is trying to play different styles. If you want to fly up and down, we’re not going to be afraid to run the break. If you want to pound it and be physical, we can do that. Whatever the game dictates is what we want to be able to do.”
The Aggies will face the Trojans approximately 30 minutes after the Idaho State vs. Western Michigan game concludes. Tip-off is slated for 8:05 p.m. at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Following the Utah State vs. Troy game, there will be awards handed out for the winner of the tournament as well as the all-tournament team.
-ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu