Aggies pound UC Riverside
Inside and outside. Usually the Utah State University men’s basketball team doesn’t dominate both facets of the game in one night.
It was time for a change, though, as forward Desmond Penigar controlled the inside and guard Tony Brown mastered the outside in the Aggies’ 68-42 victory over the University of California, Riverside Highlanders Thursday night.
A sellout crowd of 3,168 was the largest crowd ever at the UC Riverside Recreation Center.
“I’ve got to give credit to the big guys for setting screens,” Brown said on how he was able to knock in five-of-eight shots from 3-point land.
Brown finished the game with 20 points, four assists and four rebounds.
Penigar finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds, all of which were on the defensive end.
More importantly than being successful with the inside/outside game, the Aggies improved the defense, something Head Coach Stew Morrill said the team was struggling with last weekend.
“The guys understand that is how you win basketball games,” Morrill said. “[You have to] focus on defense and rebounds.”
USU Center Jeremy Vague couldn’t agree more.
“We let our defense slip the past couple of weeks,” Vague said. “That’s what we keyed in on and we came out and did a really good job.”
The changing of man to man and zone defense turned out well for the Aggies.
“I thought our changing defense really served its purpose, especially when we got a lead,” Morrill said.
Utah State jumped to an early 7-2 lead, including a trey in the first 46 seconds of the game by guard Ronnie Ross.
The Highlanders committed four turnovers in the first four minutes of play, and seemed to have had an imaginary fairy swatting away its shots as the ball constantly bounced off the rim.
Not only was Brown hot from 3-point land, he was hot from the NBA 3-point land, draining shots from 23 feet out.
Highlander Vili Morton, who leads his team in scoring, finished the game with his average of four blocks. It was ineffective for UCR though, as he checked in with four fouls and only eight points.
Vague, who not only played well offensively, was able to contain Morton, recording six rebounds, one block and no personal fouls.
The Aggies only recorded eight total fouls on the night.
“Hey, Riverside only shot three free throws,” Morrill said.
Of the three free throws, all taken by guard John Galbreath, the team was 1 for 3. The Aggies shot 10 for 15 from the line.
Vague finished the game one point short of his season and career high of 18 points against Centenary during the Gossner Foods Classic in December.
The hook shot, something Vague strayed away from for a while, was something he could not miss against the Highlanders.
“Coach [Tim] Duryea told me that’s what I need to do to get the job done,” Vague said. “I tried it a couple of times and it dropped the first couple of times in the first half so I stayed with it.”
Morrill was especially pleased with the play of the 6-foot-9 senior from San Marcos, Calif.
“Jeremy Vague played maybe the best game of his career,” Morrill said.
The Aggies will continue their California road trip as they travel west to take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans Saturday.
The Titans have not played in Titan Gym since Dec. 22, when they lost to the University of California, Santa Barbara, and comes into the game with a seven-game losing streak. UCF is still seeking its first Big West Conference victory of the season.
Averaging only 947 fans per home game, Fullerton posts the lowest home attendance in the Big West.
“The environment there is totally stale,” Morrill said. “We can’t let that affect us.”