UOP loses monkey on back
Heading into its game against the University of the Pacific, Utah State men’s basketball Head Coach Stew Morrill said he hoped to force the Tigers into playing an ugly game.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, it was the Tigers who were able to force USU into playing an ugly game in the second half, holding the Aggies to 22 points, en route to a 55-51 victory over the Aggies Thursday night in Stockton, Calif.
“We couldn’t score,” Morrill said. “It’s a tough game when you can’t score. You’d like to talk about it being more complicated than that, [but] we just couldn’t make any baskets.”
Despite dropping its first game since a 65-51 setback to Cal State Fullerton Jan. 19, the Aggies (21-5, 13-4 in the Big West Conference) clinched at least a tie for the BWC title as UC Irvine (13-5 in league play) was defeated by Long Beach State 86-70.
Because the Aggies defeated LBSU in both of their meetings and UCI split its seasons series with the Niners, the Aggies will be the top seed at next week’s Big West Tournament. If the Aggies beat California State University Northridge Saturday night, they will win the league title outright.
Nevertheless, Pacific was able to snap a six game losing streak to USU, and improved to 18-9 on the season (10-7 in the BWC).
“They were hungry tonight,” Morrill said. “We had beaten them six times in a row and they were tired of it.”
Up 37-27 after a Tony Brown fast break layup, the Aggies appeared to be in good shape to extend their winning streak to nine straight.
That’s when the floodgates opened for Pacific.
Led by Maurice McLemore and Mike Preston, the Tigers went on a 15-0 scoring run, in the process holding USU scoreless for more than eight minutes. An offensive rebound basket by Preston gave UOP its first lead of the game at 38-37.
Pacific was able to give itself several second-chance opportunities as it out-rebounded Utah State 37-30. In addition to beating the Aggies on the glass, the Tigers were able to stymie USU’s attack with a box-and-one defense, effectively keeping Brown from getting open looks.
“We didn’t handle it well,” Morrill said. “We got tentative against it and some guys didn’t feel comfortable shooting it [the ball].”
Despite struggling from the field – both teams shot 38 percent on the night – the Aggies were able to keep themselves within striking distance, pulling to within two points (51-49) on a Ronnie Ross 3-pointer.
“That says something when you’re playing as bad offensively as we were to still be in the game,” Morrill said.
UOP’s free throw shooting proved to be the key down the stretch
as the Tigers hit 12 of 13 from the charity stripe in the second half, including four straight in the game’s final two minutes.
McLemore, point guard Demetrius Jackson and Eli Nolan scored 11 points apiece to pace a balanced Tiger attack. Power forward Mike Hahn and Preston added nine and eight points, respectively.
For the Aggies, Brown scored a game-high 16 points, with Jeremy Vague (11) and Desmond Penigar (10) also finishing in double figures.
The Aggies will look to avoid losing two straight games for the first time this season when they take on the Matadors Saturday night at 8 p.m. (MST) in Northridge, Calif.
“We’ve been pretty good about not getting beat twice in a row this year, and that’s what we’ll do is challenge our guys [to respond],” Morrill said.