USU preserves perfect Gossner Classic record
Utah State 73, New Mexico State 57
Spencer Nelson’s post passing led Utah State past New Mexico State 73-57 on Dec. 30 to claim USU’s 10th straight Gossner Holiday Classic title.
Nelson had a career-high 10 assists, and his 11 points and nine rebounds left him only one rebound short of his first triple-double.
His double-double was the eighth of his career. A triple-double would have been just the fourth in Aggie history.
In combination with Nelson’s season-high 20 points against San Francisco, the performance earned him MVP honors in the Gossner Classic.
Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill considered starting Nate Harris following center Mike Ahmad’s scoreless outing against San Francisco, but Ahmad rebounded with a career-high 20 points.
Harris also scored in double-figures, adding 10 for the Aggies, and joined Nelson and Ahmad on the all-tournament team.
Joining the three Aggies on the all-tourney team were Texas-San Antonio’s Leroy “Duke” Hurd, San Francisco’s Tyrone Riley and New Mexico State’s James Moore.
Duane John led the southern Aggies in the final game with 14 points, followed by Moore’s 14.
The Aggies took the lead for good on just their second possession of the tournament championship game, and shot 61 percent from the field.
NMSU hit 44 percent of their shots.
Utah State 74, San Francisco 48
The deck was stacked against the San Francisco Dons coming into the Spectrum last week to play the Aggies in the first round of the Gossner Classic. In the 48 hours prior to arriving in Logan, the Dons lost a one-point game at Fresno State and traveled to a snowed-in Cache Valley to meet a Utah State basketball team that had won 22-straight home games against non-conference opponents.
The fatigue showed as Utah State built a 38-19 halftime lead en route to a 74-48 Dec. 29 win over the Dons in the second game of the 10th annual Gossner Foods Holiday Classic.
Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill said he thought USF may have been a little tired, but said he saw a lot of good things from his team.
“I was encouraged after Christmas Break and only a couple days of practice,” Morrill said.
Following an emotional win against BYU and three days off for Christmas Break, there were some worries about the Utah State men’s basketball team having a letdown.
Those worries were put to rest when Spencer Nelson led the Aggies with 20 points and six rebounds and all but two players scored for Utah State.
“Everyone on the team played great,” Nelson said. “I think that BYU game was a great learning experience.”
A learning experience in keeping halftime leads. Nelson said the BYU game was discussed at halftime.
“Everyone got in the locker room and said let’s not talk, let’s just do it,” Nelson said.
Nelson’s high-scoring game followed up his 19-point performance against BYU. Prior to the BYU game, Nelson said he was in a little slump.
“We expect that of Spence, we expect him to have a very good year, he’s a leader and he’s mature,” Morrill said. “He’s bounced back real nice and that’s huge for us.”
All Utah State players saw at least two minutes of action. All but Calvin Brown and Mike Ahmad scored.