Bailey has break out game
Aaron Davis, sports writer
With aggressive help on defense from shooting guard Dion Bailey, the Utah State basketball team routed the University of California-Riverside, 75-45 Tuesday night in the Spectrum.
Coach Stew Morrill was pleased with Bailey’s performance.
“He has played really well lately,” Morrill said. “I am most pleased that he is guarding. Dion is one of the better penetrators on the team and off the dribble he can make good passes and create shots.”
Bailey finished the game with 12 points, one assist and two steals. He has averaged 5.5 points a game in conference play and said his recent success on the court is due to his desire to run the break efficiently.
“I want to run the break as much as possible, and the free throws are going in,” he said.
He also credited much of his success to the flow of the bench.
“I just found a beat in my head and moved to it,” Bailey said.
Besides the offensive numbers he put up Tuesday night, his defense was what really gave the Aggies a spark off the bench. One such steal led to a fast break alley-oop dunk by reserve forward Brennan Ray which ignited the home crowd and put the Aggies up 22-8 midway through the first half.
“Coach has been drilling it into our heads all week,” Bailey said. “Do whatever it takes to ‘D’ your man up. The extra stuff to get the job done in practice is what’s paying off.”
Bailey has scored 10 or more points in three straight games for USU.