Wesley leads Aggies over Warriors for 1st WAC victory
The Utah State Aggies squeaked one out against the Hawaii Warriors in the first game of Western Athletic Conference play.
Senior forward Tai Wesley tied his career-high with 27 points to go with 13 rebounds to lead the Aggies (12-2, 1-0 WAC) over the Warriors (9-4, 0-1 WAC), 74-66 Wednesday night.
“What a night he had,” Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said of Wesley. “He didn’t get into foul trouble, and he was playing his tail off so just kept him out there. He had to play spectacular for us to win and he did.”
The Warriors out-shot the Aggies from the floor and from 3-point range, but the Aggies were able to win the game on rebounds and free-throws.
“I said to our guys, ‘I don’t remember the last time we had an opponent shoot 63 percent and 57 percent from 3 and won,'” Morrill said. “That’s credit to those other areas; rebounding, free-throws, and making plays when we had to make a play.”
The Aggies out-rebounded the Warriors, 32-13, and shot 25-of-30 from the free-throw line, while the Warriors shot 10-of-15.
Junior guard Zane Johnson made his Spectrum debut and led the Warriors 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.
“No. 3 (Zane Johnson) he was hitting shots with guys in his face all night,” Wesley said. “It was just impressive. I thought we were in his face most all of his shots. I thought we contested all of them. I thought Tyler (Newbold) and Pooh (Williams) did a pretty good job on him, he just made them. Usually guys don’t make those, but he made them. He’s a good a warm-up for Adrian Oliver, because I think he’s the same caliber of player.”
Senior guard Hiram Thompson, who had quite few family members present, chipped in 13 points and nine assists.
The Aggies really had to grind out the victory against the Warriors as they never trailed in the second half, but they never led by more than six points in the final eight minutes with the exception of a tip-in from Wesley off a missed free-throw in the final seconds.
“It was kinda what I expected,” Morrill said. “I had a lot of respect for Hawaii coming into this game. First game of conference is always a challenge at home. The road team is a lot of times free and easy, because they’ve got everything to gain with trying to get a road win. The pressure is on the home team, but we found a way to get ‘er done.”
Senior wing Pooh Williams scored 14 points and junior Brockeith Pane chipped in 11 points including a clutch lay-up with less than a minute left in the game and the shot-clock winding down. Senior guard Tyler Newbold six points, six assists and no turnovers.
The Aggies will now prep for the San Jose State Spartans on Saturday. The Spartans fell to the Fresno State Bulldogs on the road in their first WAC game Wednesday night, 75-62. Despite the loss, coach Morrill and the Aggies know they will need to play better than they did against Hawaii to get the win.
“We start off at home which is nice, but we start off with two of the better teams in the league record-wise,” Wesley said. “We’ve got to feel good about this win tonight, but tomorrow it’s got to be business. We’ve got to focus on San Jose State, because they’re not a walk through the park at all. No team in the WAC is.”
Morrill said, “Every game is tough and you gotta be ready to play. San Jose brings in two guys averaging a bunch. We’ll get on them tonight and tomorrow and get ready to go.”
The Spartans may have the most offensively potent front court in the WAC. Senior guard’s Adrian Oliver and Justin Graham are averaging 25.8 and 16.1 points per game respectively.
“This conference is really guard-heavy,” Pane said. “It’s going to be a challenge every game we play in the WAC.”
The Aggies and Spartans are set to square-off at 7:05 p.m on Friday in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
-ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu