USU holds NMSU under 50 points, extends WAC lead
The Utah State Aggies found another way to win a close one, extending their winning streak to 13 games Saturday night.
Senior forward Tai Wesley finished with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting to lead USU over the New Mexico State Aggies, 59-49 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in front of a national audience. Though both teams struggled to score the entire game, Utah State used a 17-0 run along with dominating rebounding and stifling defense to get the edge over New Mexico State.
“It was a battle,” Wesley said. “It was a lot of fun. There was a lot of blood out there. We played defense tonight and that’s what won it for us, our defense and our rebounding.”
Utah State out-rebounded New Mexico State 45-30, and forwards Nate Bendall and Brady Jardine finished with 11 and 10 rebounds respectively. Bendall’s 11 boards were a game-high.
“If there was ever a testament to defense and rebounding, tonight was it,” Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said. “They struggled worse than we did to score and we out-rebound them by 15. That’s a great accomplishment. Like I told our players, we don’t care if it’s pretty or not as long as it goes in the proper column. That’s what we care about and we found a way to get ‘er done.”
Utah State (18-2, 7-0 WAC) for the second consecutive game, held their opponent to a terrible shooting percentage. New Mexico State (10-11, 4-3 WAC) finished the game shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 25 percent from the 3-point line. Junior forward Troy Gillenwater led New Mexico State with 20 points on 9-of-16 from the field, and scrappy junior guard Hernst Laroche added 11 points to with five assists and two steals.
“Gillenwater is a good player,” Wesley said. “There isn’t much you can do. You get in his face and he’ll hit a shot. You scoot closer to him and he’ll get around you. He’s a tough match-up.”
It was actually Gillenwater, who scored 14 points in the first half, who had New Mexico State up early on. Bendall made a strong move to the basket to put Utah State up 8-4, and that’s when New Mexico State went off. Freshman guard Christian Kabongo nailed a trey on the ensuing possession that fueled an 11-1 New Mexico State run. Gillenwater and Sophomore forward Tyrone Watson also hit 3’s as a part of that 11-1 run.
“They’re long, they get into us and they cause problems with their physicality and their athleticism and their size,” Morrill said.
No one may have struggled more with New Mexico State than junior guard Brockeith Pane, who finished with two points and four assists on the night. Sophomore guard E.J. Farris, who got another chance this week to prove himself, finished with five points and three assists over a stretch where Utah State went on a 26-4 run.
“That was about the difference of the game, kind of interesting,” Morrill said of the run. “I was really pleased for E.J., he was in for some of that stretch and made some good plays. It’s nice when you reward a kid who deserves a chance because of his practicing. He didn’t do everything perfect tonight, but he did some good things and that was fun to see.”
Wesley said, “We got on a roll. E.J. sparked us and it just kinda got us going. We need guys to do that.”
Utah State headed into the locker room with a 12-point lead, and although things would get even more physical and chippy in the second half, USU was able to sustain a double-digit margin the rest of the way despite terrible shooting. Utah State finished the night shooting 41.5 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from the field. Many of USU’s shooting woes against New Mexico State may be due to mid-season fatigue.
“We’re a little worn out right now,” Morrill said. “We need to get ourselves refreshed a little bit, with all of the practices and games. You just kind of sense that we’re a little worn down and a little tired. We’ve got to get our energy back. Hopefully we can do that next week. I always talk about the dog days of February. We’re not quite there, but we’re just a little worn down. I think if there was ever a time for a day off, it’s now. You just kind of feel that. We need a little time to get our legs back, get our energy back.”
Despite the fatigue, Morrill feels his team is in a good spot.
“We sure would have taken 7-0 going into conference,” Morrill said. “The three road wins were huge and we’ve done what we need to do to hold home court. It’s a great start to conference is what is it. A lot of bumps in the road could still happen. You’ve just got to keep battling and keep playing, but this team has some veterans that understand the length of the season, so hopefully that will help us.”
Utah State will go on the road again next week, as they face the San Jose State Spartans (9-9, 1-6 WAC) and the Hawaii Warriors (12-8, 3-5 WAC). Utah State defeated both teams at home to start the season.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu