USU dropped a notch by Wolf Pack
After locking up their first outright WAC championship Thursday, USU (26-4, 13-2) traveled to Nevada Saturday hoping to send a pre-conference tournament message to the hosting Wolf Pack.
However, it was the preseason conference favorites that sent the message. Days after falling to last-place Fresno State, Nevada (17-11, 9-5) showed why they’d garnered so much preseason attention, blasting the Ags 84-71.
“They came out and they were ready,” said USU head coach Stew Morrill in a post-game radio interview. “They had a great crowd, great atmosphere … they threw in six 3’s in a hurry – bang, bang, bang – and we were playing uphill from then on out.”
Behind a pair of former McDonald’s All-Americans, the home team used a 29-7 run during a 10-minute stretch of the first half to blow open a close game and take a 23-point lead, 41-18, with 4:33 to play.
“We just didn’t show up to play,” said junior Jared Quayle in a post game radio interview. “We’re just going to have to get back to practice, and get back to our roots and get back to our defensive ways.”
Nevada’s Armon Johnson was especially deadly during the run, hitting shot after shot. Johnson finished with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting in 34 minutes of action.
“He made some amazing shots,” Quayle said. “He’s a great player and he was just hitting shots tonight.”
Despite nearly being blown out of the water early, the Aggies were able to respond with a run of their own. A pair of 3’s by Jaxon Myaer and Tyler Newbold helped USU outscore the Wolf Pack 14-6 over the final five minutes of the first half to cut the lead to 15.
After such a rough start in the first half, the Aggies came out of the locker room determined to show Nevada why Utah State was the No. 1 team in the conference. On USU’s first possession, Newbold connected on his second three of the night, cutting the deficit to 12.
As the half wore on, the Aggies continued to chip away at Nevada’s lead. With 14 minutes left to play, sophomore Pooh Williams found USU’s player of the year candidate Gary Wilkinson for an easy basket that pulled the Ags within 11.
Then things really got interesting.
Morrill was hit with his first technical foul of the season when freshman Brady Jardine was whistled for his fourth foul of the game. The call was questionable at best, and sent the bespectacled Morrill looking for some answers.
“I probably deserved it,” Morrill quipped. “That’s the first T I’ve had all year, and I’ve probably deserved four or five.”
When the dust settled, Nevada’s Luke Babbitt was awarded four consecutive free throws – two for being fouled on the shot, and two for the technical. He connected on all four, and the Wolf Pack lead was pushed back to 17.
Babbitt spent an awful lot of time at the charity stripe during the game, connecting on 10-of-11 free throws. He finished with 21 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
“I felt like they were protecting Babbitt and he was getting Michael Jordan-type calls,” Morrill said. “But, I’m trying to view it from that far away and I could very well be wrong … If I’m an official, I’d probably T me, too.”
Despite that unfortunate turn for the Aggies, they weren’t about to roll over and die, and they battled back again. The process of chipping away was resumed, and when Myaer connected on his second 3-pointer of the game with 8:38 remaining, the Ags found themselves within 8, 63-55.
Twice during the next few minutes USU was able to pull within seven, the last on an authoritative dunk by Wilkinson in which he was fouled and completed the old fashioned three-point play. But, that’s as close as the Ags would get.
In the end the Aggies had exerted too much energy playing catch-up, and were unable to maintain their energy and intensity down the stretch as Nevada held on for the win.
“There’s no excuse for how we played in the first half, we just came out sluggish,” Quayle said. “I felt like we played better in the second half, but it was a little too late.”
A trio of scorers in double figures led the Aggies as Wilkinson finished with 16 points, Quayle, 12, and sophomore Tai Wesley, 10. Wesley quietly had a good night statistically, as he pulled 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists to come up just shy of a triple-double.
With the win, Nevada has all but locked up the No. 2 seed for the upcoming WAC tournament, which could set up a potential rematch in the conference championship game.
“They’re a good team, they’re long and athletic, and we’re counting on seeing them in the championship of the tournament,” Quayle said. “We’ll come ready then.”
USU will now have a full week off before returning home for their last regular season game of the season. The Aggies will play host to San Jose State Saturday, March 7, as they look to stay unbeaten at home and grab some momentum before heading into the conference tournament.
–t.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu