Former University of Utah player filling role with Aggies
Had things worked out a little differently, Utah State guard Chris Huber may have taken the court Wednesday night wearing red instead of blue.
Huber spent a year as a walk-on at the University of Utah before transferring to Dixie State and then to USU.
As it is, he wishes one thing were different about his return to the Huntsman Center – the end result. Utah defeated the Aggies 56-45.
“Things didn’t work out as well as I had hoped as far as winning the basketball game, but as far as everything else, I thought it went all right,” Huber said.
Huber said he was able to keep the emotion of returning to play against his old team in check.
“I was real excited coming in, but I don’t think I was trying to do too much or trying to prove anything to [Utah Head] Coach [Rick] Majerus,” he said.
The Aggies struggled in the first half, scoring only 16 points, and trailed by 19 at the break.
“I just wanted to come out and have some emotion and try to get back in it,” Huber said.
The Aggies turned the game around in the second half, outscoring the Utes 29-21, but it was too little, too late.
Some of Huber’s teammates played with more emotion as well.
After forward Spencer Nelson was called for a technical, Huber pulled him aside to calm him down.
“Huber is a point guard, he’s a floor general, he was taking charge and that’s what he needs to do,” Nelson said.
After the technical, Huber continued to help the Aggie cause, finding an open man in the lane for an assist, then teaming with Jason Williams to force a turnover in the Ute backcourt.
A couple of minutes later, Huber hit a three-pointer and made a driving layup, finishing with six points.
Quotables
“They must have had five shots they made at the end of the shot clock and we must have had six baskets that looked like they were going and rolled out. That’s what happens when you’re the aggressor. They were the aggressor, they were the physical ones.
– Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill on why Utah seemed to get lucky breaks.
By the numbers
79 – percent shooting by Aggies in second half of Illinois State game
29 – percent shooting by USU in first half of Utah game
16 – first-half points for Utah State
12 – game-high points by Utah’s Nick Jacobson and Andrew Bogut.
0 – points by Aggie guard Mark Brown, following his 20-point, 13-assist game against Illinois State. Brown had one assist against Utah.
-royburnton@cc.usu.edu