Men’s basketball flawless over holiday break
While a majority of the Aggie student body was enjoying a holiday break, the Utah State Aggies were enjoying extending their winning streak to nine games. Over the break the Aggies proved they are one of the best teams in the state with a win over Utah Valley University to improve their season record against in-state opponents to 4-1.
Senior forward Tai Wesley continued to show why he is the preseason WAC Player of the Year, and junior guard Brockieth Pane turned into a nightmare for opposing defenses with his ability to drive to the basket at will. Aggie head coach Stew Morrill threw a tantrum in the second WAC game of the season against San Jose State and the Aggies responded with a road win at Nevada.
Here is what you may have missed over the break:
Dec. 11, 2010: Utah State vs. Cal-State Bakersfield, 77-58
It wasn’t pretty, but the Aggies took care of business against the Cal-State Bakersfield Roadrunners.
Senior guard Tyler Newbold found his way out of a miserable shooting slump, finishing with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point range to lead the Aggies to the 77-58 win.
“I obviously shot the ball well tonight; snapped out of a little funk I was in,” Newbold said. “I’ve been working hard and I’ve been shooting a lot of extra shots at the gym to try and get my shot to fall so I can help my team that way. I was able to do that tonight and it feels great.”
The Aggies struggled with offensive efficiency, but they were able to overcome their poor shooting percentage with hustle plays.
“Not a real pretty game,” Aggie head coach Stew Morrill said. “We did what we had to do to get a win. We’re a long ways away from being very consistent in our play. We’re playing hard. It’s not that we’re not playing hard, we’re just kind of spurty and we miss a lot of open shots. We had some silly turnovers; didn’t get back sometimes.”
Dec. 18, 2010: Utah State at Utah Valley, 76-58
Junior guard Brockeith Pane played his best game as an Aggie since his season debut performance against Weber State.
The Dallas, Texas native busted out of Morrill’s dog house in a big way, as he finished with 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting from the 3-point stripe to lead the Aggies over the Utah Valley Wolverines, 76-58 in Orem.
“Brockeith was good,” Morrill said. “He’s really been wanting to play well and concentrating on the things we’ve been asking him to do. It helped his confidence that he made some shots early, but just did a really solid job out there and boy, do we need that. That was very positive to see.”
The Aggies were also able to put together a great second half on the road after struggling in the second half at home against Cal-State Bakersfield.
“I was pleased with our second-half play,” Morrill said. “I think that’s by far the best second half we’ve had on the road. We were good defensively. We were good on the boards and we made some shots and executed a little better offensively.”
Dec. 21, 2010: Utah State vs. Idaho State, 71-48
Senior guard Brian Green became the second Utah State Aggie guard to break out of a slump in as many games. The Utah native scored 17 points on 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from the 3-point line to lead the Aggies (9-2) over the Idaho State Bengals (3-7), 71-48, in the opening day of the World Vision Invitational sponsored by Gossner Foods. The Aggies put together their most complete victory of the season, as they played extremely well on both ends of the floor.
“We got ourselves a nice cushion in the first half and that carried us throughout the game,” Morrill said. “I thought we were very unselfish offensively. We made a lot of extra passes. We had 20 assists and nine turnovers. Guys were giving the ball up and not trying to force things. It was a good effort offensively and we were good defensively in the first half.”
The Aggies had no problem with offense in the first half, and but it was their defense that took over midway through the first half. The Aggies finished the first half on a 19-5 run behind the hot shooting of Green, who went 4-of-4 from 3-point land in the first half.
“I thought our bench production was good,” Morrill said. “It’s nice to have guys like Brady (Jardine) and Brian (Green) coming off the bench giving us energy, giving us production. Both those guys had good games. It was nice to have some guys make shots and play well when some of the starters were having a little trouble getting some down.”
Dec. 22, 2010: Utah State vs. Western Michigan, 78-57
The Utah State Aggies (10-2) got one of their best nights from the starters on Wednesday, as they defeated the Western Michigan Broncos, 78-57 in day two of the World Vision Invitational sponsored by Gossner Foods. The wings played especially well, as seniors Pooh Williams and Tyler Newbold finished the night with 18 and 12 points respectively. For the second consecutive night, the Aggies were able to put together an all-around complete game.
“When we’re playing together and we’re setting screens for each other and we’re hitting the open guy and we’re hitting shots like we were, and we have balanced scoring like that, we are a really tough team to beat,” Newbold said. “It’s hard for teams to prepare for us defensively, and it really helps us as a team.”
The Aggies played well in the first half, but had a hard time matching the intensity and physical play of the Broncos which in turn led to a marginal lead at halftime.
“I think the biggest thing was they were kind of knocking us around in the first half,” Newbold said. “They were more physical than us in the first half which is not a good thing. Coach got on us at halftime and we came out and played a lot more physical in the second half and I think that was the biggest key to the turnaround.”
Dec. 23, 2010: Utah State vs. Troy, 80-39
The Utah State Aggies continued their win streak for holiday tournaments in the final game. Green earned the World Vision Invitation Tournament MVP, as he torched the nets for 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 shooting from the 3-point line to lead the Aggies over the Troy Trojans, 80-39.
Green averaged 15 points, two rebounds and three assists during the tournament.
“I was pretty happy about it,” Green said. “As a team we came and played hard. It was good to win this tournament, and get us ready for league. I might have won the MVP, but it’s a team effort. My teammates were looking for me, and they were in a zone so I was getting a lot of open shots.”
It was an ugly game, but the Aggies broke open a huge lead in the first half and cruised to claim the World Vision Tournament Title.
“Obviously Troy wasn’t at their best tonight,” Morrill said. “Whatever the reason is, that wasn’t the same team that played a few nights ago. Fortunately we came out and guarded them and kinda set the tone early. They didn’t get any clean open looks. After that it was downhill for them.”
Dec. 29, 2010: Utah State vs. Hawaii, 74-66
The Utah State Aggies squeaked one out against the Hawaii Warriors in the first game of Western Athletic Conference play.
Senior forward Tai Wesley tied his career-high with 27 points to go with 13 rebounds to lead the Aggies (12-2, 1-0 WAC) over the Warriors (9-4, 0-1 WAC), 74-66.
“What a night he had,” Morrill said. “He didn’t get into foul trouble, and he was playing his tail off so (I) just kept him out there. He had to play spectacular for us to win and he did.”
The Warriors out-shot the Aggies from the floor and from 3-point range, but the Aggies were able to win the game on rebounds and free-throws.
“I said to our guys, ‘I don’t remember the last time we had an opponent shoot 63 percent and 57 percent from 3 and won,'” Morrill said. “That’s credit to those other areas; rebounding, free-throws, and making plays when we had to make a play.”
The Aggies out-rebounded the Warriors, 32-13, and shot 25-of-30 from the free-throw line, while the Warriors shot 10-of-15.
Hawaii guard Zane Johnson led the Warriors with 24 points in his spectrum debut.
Dec. 31, 2010: Utah State vs. San Jose State, 80-71
The Aggies may have welcomed the most prolific scorer of the Western Athletic Conference in San Jose State Spartans senior guard Adrian Oliver in their second WAC game of the season, but it was junior guard Brockeith Pane who stole the show, scoring 21 points and dishing out seven assists to lead the Aggies over the Spartans, 80-71.
Despite the win, the Aggies (13-2, 2-0 WAC) were not happy at all with their effort against the Spartans (8-5, 0-2 WAC), especially in the first half. Aggie head coach Stew Morrill may have been the most angry, as he didn’t see to many positives in the win.
“Coach was on us at half,” senior forward Tai Wesley said. “He came out fiery and really chewed us. He really chewed us seniors. He said that we weren’t playing with enough emotion. Coach really lit a fire under our butts. He was yelling and kicking things in the locker room and we had to respond, especially the seniors.”
Morrill said, “I shouldn’t have to do that. As angry as I can remember being in my years at Utah State. You can’t play the game of basketball without energy and heart and that was my whole pre-game speech. They didn’t listen.”
Jan. 8, 2011: Utah State at University of Nevada-Reno, 81-67
Senior forward Tai Wesley scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead the Aggies over the Nevada Wolf Pack, 81-67. The Aggies (14-2, 3-0 WAC) responded to a ‘Morrill tantrum’ after a win against San Jose State, shooting a season-high 62 percent from the field against the Pack (4-12, 1-2).
“It was a satisfying win after a tough week of practice,” Morrill said.
Nevada sophomore forward Olek Czyz continued his strong Western Athletic Conference campaign as he finished with 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, but it was another strong performance from USU’s Brockeith Pane, who finished with 17 points, and a 14-point, five-rebound bounceback performance from junior forward Brady Jardine that paced the Aggies to victory.
“It feels so good to be back as a team,” Jardine said. “I think we showed in those last 12 minutes that the Aggies are back. Even though we won last week, this second half is how we want to play baskeball.”
A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Malik Story put the Pack up at halftime, and the Aggies would play behind for much of the second half. The Aggies found themselves down by 10 with 14 minutes remaining when a jumper from senior guard Brian Green fueled an 11-1 run to bring the game even at 50-50.
“We could have rolled over and said, ‘we lost to a good team on the road,’ but that’s not us,” Jardine said, who scored 13 of his 14 points in the second half. “That’s what’s going to help us win a WAC Championship this year. We’re motivated. That locker room had more excitement than it’s had all year.”
The Aggies held the Pack to 35 percent shooting from the floor and 28.6 percent shooting from 3-point land, while shooting 69.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from long distance in the second half.
“It’s amazing what you have to do to get a win on the road,” Morrill said. “We’ll take it and feel good about it.”
First place in the WAC will be on the line when the Aggies travel to Boise on Thursday. Tip-off against the Broncos is slated for 8:15 from Taco Bell Arena.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu