Jalen Moore gets to 1,000 as Aggies down Rams
Junior wing Jalen Moore became the 37th player in Utah State history to score 1,000 career points in the Aggies’ 72-59 win against Colorado State on Wednesday in Logan.
“It means a lot to me,” Moore said. “It was awesome being able to do it in front of the home crowd and have my parents here watching.”
Jimmy Moore, who played for the Aggies from 1972-75, scored 1,164 points in his USU career.
“I don’t know how many more points my dad has on me,” Moore said. “But I’m coming for him. I want to pass him.”
The victory moves USU to 13-11 overall and 5-8 in Mountain West play this season.
Moore reached the career milestone after a breakdown by the defense gave him an open 3-point attempt with just under three and a half minutes remaining in the game. The shot came as part of a decisive 22-10 run that sealed the victory for USU.
“I was really proud of our guys tonight,” said USU head coach Tim Duryea. “I thought for the last 12 or 15 minutes of the game we were the tougher team.”
Utah State led 37-35 at the halftime break, but CSU took the lead on the first possession of the second period on a 3-point shot.
The Aggies and Rams battled back and forth over the next six minutes before Moore connected on a contested 3-point shot in the corner that gave USU the lead for good with just under 14 minutes left in the game.
“Coach said the tougher team usually wins and I think we were the tougher team in the second half,” Moore said. “We were able to play better defense, make them miss some 3’s and rebound the ball when we needed to.”
The Rams shot 44 percent from the floor, including 7 of 15 from 3-point range. Utah State locked down defensively in the second half, though, holding the visitors to 9 of 36 shooting for 25 percent and just 1 of 16 from deep.
“I think we have an overall tougher mentality about us,” Duryea said. “I hope we can keep that going.”
Antwan Scott, the Rams’ leading scorer, had just five points in the second period. He finished with 18 for the game, on 7 of 19 shooting.
“Defensively, we finally figured out a way to shut Antwan Scott down a little bit,” Duryea said. “I think that was as big a key as anything.”
Utah State, fueled by a 9-0 run, took a double-digit lead midway through the opening half. The Rams were able to whittle down the lead, aided by an Aggie scoring drought of more than five minutes, and eventually took the lead 28-27 after a made free throw.
Consecutive 3-pointers by junior forward Lew Evans and Moore gave USU the lead at halftime.
“That’s what we needed,” Moore said. “If we keep winning, I feel like we’ll finish in a good spot in the standings for the tournament.”
Moore finished the game with 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting, including 3 of 6 from 3-point land. He also added seven rebounds, four assists and a block in 36 minutes.
As a team, USU made nine 3’s and shot 48 percent from the floor while only committing five turnovers for the game.
Senior guard Chris Smith, who scored a career-high 35 points in the matchup against CSU earlier this season, led the Aggies in scoring Wednesday with 19 points. He shot 6 of 10 from the floor, including 3 of 5 from deep, and added four rebounds, three assists and a steal.
The next game for the Aggies will be Saturday at 4 p.m. in a road match against Fresno State.
— thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @tomcat340