Ross not to blame for Aggie loss
Utah State guard Ronnie Ross took Thursday’s 59-58 loss to UC Irvine pretty hard — you could tell by the quiver in his voice.
And after noting that he didn’t think a foul that led to the game-winning free throws by Anteater Mike Hood shouldn’t have necessarily been called, Ross said it didn’t need to come down to the final play.
“We put our own selves in the predicament,” he said. “We should have played from the beginning of the first half.”
But after a late surge, led mostly in part by Desmond Penigar with 10 of the final 12 USU points, the Aggies found themselves in a position to win.
Down 57-56 with 21.2 seconds left in the game, Hood fouled Ross, sending him to the charity stripe. Ross nailed both of the freebies, putting USU up 58-57.
Following Ross’ shots, the officials added 1.3 seconds to the clock. Utah State athletics director Rance Pugmire said UCI requested the play prior to the foul to be reviewed because more time should have been on the clock.
Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill said reviewing the play was OK, because the game was on television.
Ironically, Ross was called for the blocking foul against Hood at the other end of the court.
“He [the official] said he made that call because he gave me the foul on the other end,” Ross said. “Honestly I think I was there.”
Aggie Nate Harris said, “At the end [of the game] we were told to keep them in front of us. We did what coach told us to do. The call against Ross was a tough call that could have gone either way.”
Morrill said fouling was the last thing the team wanted to do in the situation it was in. He said the idea was to force the Anteaters into a desperation shot — likely to lead to an Aggie victory.
Morrill defended Ross saying that he wasn’t trying to foul Hood, but just trying to stop him.
Quotables
“We all know we can go two directions right now — we can pack it up and just say forget it or go with what coach wants us to do, which is defense and rebound,” Penigar on the current state of the team.
“I thought we played one of our better ball games. We led most of the game, so it would have been a shame to lose this one,” Douglas said.
By the Numbers
8,041 — paid attendance for Thursday’s Big West Conference game.
32 — Rebounds by the Anteaters. Jordan Harris led UCI with six. Penigar grabbed eight of USU’s 28 boards.
25 — Utah State points off turnovers, while UC Irvine converted 13.
11 — bench points by the Anteaters. Nate Harris led Utah State off the bench with four of the five points.
10 — points scored by Penigar down the stretch. He finished the game with 21 on 10-of-15 shooting from the field.
9-1 — Utah State’s record at home this season. Aside from the NIT loss last year, the Aggies had not lost at home since the 67-66 defeat to Irvine Jan. 10, 2002.
2 — shot clock violations by UC Irvine.
2 — Aggie blocks. Nate Harris and Mike Puzey each swatted away an Anteater ball.
1-4 — Utah State’s record on the season when trailing at the half. The Aggies were down 33-22 at the break.
1 — warnings by Utah State public address announcer Rob Flygare to not throw items on the floor. Following the game the request was denied as a downpour of balls, cups and papers flooded the floor.
1 — returning missionaries for the Anteaters. Greg Ethington, who hails from Chandler, Ariz., is playing his first season in the last two year after serving in British Columbia for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Former Aggie Brennan Ray was also from Chandler, Ariz.
Up next
Perhaps Saturday’s matchup with Long Beach State (3-8 in Big West action, 4-16 overall) couldn’t come at a better time.
Not only will the quick turnaround give the Aggies a chance to rebound from the loss to Irvine, but it could be a major confidence booster.
The 49ers have not win in the Spectrum in their last three tries. The Aggies defeated LBSU 63-55 earlier this season on the road.
–juag@cc.usu.edu