Ags win in Reno

Nate Harris scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Utah State men’s basketball team to a huge win over Nevada 59-53 at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

Cass Matheus led the Aggies with 13 rebounds and Durrall Peterson scored all 10 of his points in the second half.

“That was fun,” Peterson said. “I’m still excited. I didn’t want it to end.”

Peterson said the win is that much more significant because it came on the road.

“It’s good to be at home, but it’s good to win on the road, too,” he said. “Not too many teams are winning on the road. We’ve got to keep it going. A lot of teams will get a big win and then lose.”

USU took its biggest lead of the game at 42-31 with 7:37 to play when Nevada went on an 8-0 run to cut its deficit to three.

But Peterson answered with back-to-back 3-point shots to expand the Aggie lead back to nine points with 3:17 remaining.

“Coach kept telling me that if the shots weren’t there early, just be patient. It will come,” Peterson said. “That’s what happened tonight.”

USU hit eight consecutive free throws in the final minute to seal the win. The Aggies were 15-of-17 from behind the foul line for the game.

After being out-rebounded 39-31 against Louisiana Tech last Wednesday, the Aggies were able to gain a 42-36 advantage on the boards against the Wolf Pack.

USU shot only 35.8 percent from the field, but held Nevada to only 33.8 percent shooting.

“They had a bad night and you’ve got to capitalize on that,” Peterson said.

Wolf Pack standout Nick Fazekas finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, but had a very slow start. The preseason first-team all-WAC selection missed his first six shots and had only four points at halftime.

The game started at 9 p.m. local time, 10 p.m. in Logan and at midnight in Peterson’s home town of Raleigh, N. C.

“My little sister was supposed to be in bed, but she stayed up and watched,” he said. “My parents were tailgating at midnight.”

Jaycee Carroll’s streak of 19-consecutive games scoring in double-digits came to an end Monday.

The sophomore finished with only seven points.

The Wolf Pack made only three 3-point shots in the game – two of which came in the final minutes.

The Aggies will return home to face South Dakota State on Friday in the Spectrum.

USU will then play Monday night at 10 p.m. against Hawai’i in another game that will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

Other Notes:

• The Lawlor Events Center has a seating capacity of 11,600, but only 5,713 specatators attended the game.

• The 88.2 percent shooting from the foul line was a season best for the Aggies.

• The win improved USU’s overall record to 13-4 with a conference record of 5-2. The Aggies are now only a half game behind LTU for first place in the WAC.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu