Tied at halftime, USU pulls away for 11th straight victory
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said going into the Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif., Thursday night to play the University of Pacific would be a tough test for his team. The Aggies passed the test by defeating the Tigers, 62-51.
Knotted at 25 after the first half – the first time the Aggies had tied an opponent at the intermission since January 1999 – USU came out firing in the second and built a nine-point lead, 52-43, with five and a half minutes to go. Up by only six with 2:22 to go, forward Shawn Daniels, a 40.8 percent foul shooter on the year, stepped up to the line and sunk them both to make the score 57-49.
Four-for-5 free-throw shooting the rest of the way out sustained the Aggies to the victory.
One key factor in the victory was USU’s ability to convert off turnovers.
The Aggies turned Tiger turnovers into 22 points, while only committing nine turnovers themselves.
“It was a physical and mental war,” Morrill said. “We knew it was going to be a blue-collar game.”
USU forward Curtis Bobb agreed the Tigers were physical, but Bobb said his Aggies “out-physicalled” them.
“Our team matches any team’s physical game,” he said. “I don’t think they could handle our physical pressure.”
One Tiger who couldn’t handle the pressure in the second half was Mike Preston. After scoring 11 first-half points, Preston was only able to muster two in the second half.
“I think our offense was wearing them down [in the second half],” Bobb said.
Morrill credited the second half success to a lot of easy baskets.
“I thought the second half we executed real well,” he said. “The silly little press got us a couple of steals.”
Bobb had four of those steals, a mark that matched his career high, while scoring 12 points.
Rock led all Aggie scorers with 15, while Daniels wasn’t far behind with 13. Guard Tony Brown pitched in nine points and dished out seven assists.
USU will return home to play the University of Idaho Saturday night – a team they routed 80-58 by crushing the Vandals in the second half.