Making a statement

Physical. Tough. Hard-nosed.

These are the words Head Coach Stew Morrill used to described the Utah State men’s basketball team’s 64-55 win over Louisiana Tech in the Spectrum Wednesday.

“It was not a game for the meek,” he said. “It was a game for men.”

Jaycee Carroll led the Aggies with 14 points, despite shooting just 5-for-17 from the field and 2-for-9 from 3-point range.

Nate Harris finished with 13 points for the night while Cass Matheus put 12 points on the board.

Morrill said it was encouraging to see his team win while shooting just 40.4 percent from the field.

“If Jaycee had a good shooting night, it would have been a lot better,” Morrill said. “We missed a lot of open shots and [LTU] was doing a lot of doubling.”

Even though his shot seemed to be off, Carroll still hit a 3-pointer with 6:26 to play, which gave the Aggies a five-point lead.

“He made a big one,” Harris said. “He’s got that shooter’s mentality where he can miss a bunch and still make the next one.”

USU trailed 46-43 with fewer than 10 minutes to play when Chris Huber hit back-to-back 3-pointers to turn the three-point deficit into a three-point lead.

“Huber made two threes when we really need them,” Morrill said. “We’ve got to have our veterans come through to win a game like that.”

The Bulldogs were held to only 39.3 percent shooting from the field, but they out-rebounded the Aggies 39-31.

Paul Millsap finished with 20 points and 17 boards to lead LTU.

“I’d rather pay to watch him than coach against him,” Morrill said about Millsap. “If he can’t play for money, then those guys in the NBA are really good.”

Harris was in charge of guarding the 6-foot-8-inch 245-pounder for most of the game.

“Obviously, Millsap’s a beast,” he said. “I was matched up with him one-on-one for most of the first half. It was a battle in the post.”

LTU was the last unbeaten team in WAC play with a 4-0 before Wednesday’s game.

“With them coming here undefeated, we wanted this one,” Harris said.

The win improved USU’s record to 12-4 on the season and 4-2 in conference play.

The Aggies are now tied for second in the WAC with New Mexico State.

Aggie David Pak said he hopes the close victory will help USU concentrate on Monday’s game against Nevada in Reno.

“I’d like to think we’re saving it for Nevada,” he said. “We hope to come out with the same intensity.”

Morrill said it is nice to be in a conference with so many good opponents.

“As a player, you enjoy this level of competition,” he said. “The fans enjoy this competition, too.”

Harris said, “Every game’s a battle. [Nevada] is another huge challenge. We’re pretty excited to go up there.”

Monday’s game will tip off at 10 p.m. and will air on ESPN.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu

USU’s David Pak goes for the basket Wednesday night. (James Schultz)