Aggies snap road streak
The Utah State men’s basketball team knows the comfort of home. After all, the Aggies have failed to lose a game in the Spectrum since Montana State came to town for the National Invitation Tournament last year.
The road, however, has been another story.
Going into Saturday’s game against Long Beach State, the Aggies (13-4, 4-2) had a two-game road losing streak and had suffered four setbacks in five games away from Logan.
Maybe the 63-55 win over the 49ers proved to be something different, though. Maybe the Aggies really can win on the road.
“We’re pleased to just hang in there and find a way to win,” Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill told reporters following the game. “Road wins are hard to come by. It doesn’t matter who you are playing.”
Especially in the Big West Conference. There are six teams currently within one and a half games of first place. And although UC Riverside is not at the top of the pack, the Highlanders (3-8, 2-3) will certainly put up a fight as they visit the Spectrum Thursday for the 7:05 p.m. contest.
Utah State hopes it won’t be as trying as the game against the 49ers, though.
With 8:47 remaining in the game and down 41-33, Long Beach scored nine consecutive points to take the lead. With stellar defense in the next six minutes, though, USU held LBSU to only two baskets. Capitalizing on the situation, the Aggies took a game-high 11-point lead (63- 52) in the final minute to seal the victory.
“All we wanted to do was find a way to get a ‘W,'” Morrill said. “We did what we needed to do.”
Including getting everyone in the scoring action. The Aggies finished with four players in double digits for the fourth straight game. Toraino Johnson led the way with 14 points, while Cardell Butler (12), Desmond Penigar (11) and Spencer Nelson (11) all chipped in.
The Aggies were also successful from the free throw. Utah State shot 22-for-26 from the charity stripe. The 49ers only had four free looks at the basket.
Kevin Roberts led Long Beach with 19 points while Tony Darden, who only shot 4-of-12 from the floor, finished with 12.
The 49ers won the battle of the boards, 30-28, led by Marcel Jackson. It was the first time in seven games an Aggie opponent had done so.
“We didn’t rebound like we normally do,” Morrill said. “But we did play hard and we executed pretty well.”
Johnson said, “That was a must-win [against LBSU]. With the program we have, we try not to lose two games in a row. We go through conference season like that every year with the seniors leading the other guys.”
And the Aggies will look to avoid starting a losing skid against UC Riverside.
The Highlanders are 1-6 on the road this season, opening Big West play with losses at UC Santa Barbara (65-49) and Cal Poly (83-77). Its lone win away from home came last weekend against Cal State Fullerton (47-41).
“They are on an upswing right now,” Morrill said. “They got a road win against Fullerton and now they’re coming in here playing better basketball than they were three or four weeks ago.”
Freshman Nate Carter leads the team in scoring (18.8 points) and rebounding (6.5).
“He’s impressive, I’ll say that up front,” Morrill said. “We’ve got our hands full trying to defend him. He makes scoring look easy and he’s near the top of the league in rebounding. We certainly have a challenge there.”
UCR is averaging 66.6 points per game, while allowing its opponents 75.1.
–juag@cc.usu.edu