Wesley’s homecoming spoiled by foul call
Wednesday night was the only chance Aggie senior forward and Provo High School graduate Tai Wesley would have to beat Brigham Young in his hometown. Unfortunately for him, the end result was not what he would have wanted, BYU taking down Utah State 78-72.
Wesley said he never missed a BYU home game in four years when he was watching his older brother Mekeli play in a Brigham Young uniform.
“It did bring back a lot of memories,” Wesley said of playing in the Marriott Center. “I saw my old seat where I used to sit and watch (Mekeli).”
“The crowd was great,” Wesley said. “Who wouldn’t want to play basketball in this arena with that many people on top of you?”
Despite the result, Wesley said the atmosphere during the game was awesome.
“This one hurts,” he said. “I’d rather be blown out than beaten like this.”
In a game that will be forever remembered for the intentional fifth foul called on Wesley – a call Utah State head coach Stew Morrill says anyone can “speculate on” all they like – there were other reasons the Aggies failed to put the game away.
“(I) should have shot better free throws and rebounded better,” Wesley said. “Bottom line, I have to shoot free throws better. I have to get into the gym and practice.”
Utah State made 15 of 26 from the charity stripe. The Aggies also turned the ball over 14 times compared to just nine for BYU. The Cougars took control of four more offensive rebounds than their opponents.
“They out-rebounded us and that really was the difference,” Wesley said. “That and we didn’t make free throws.”
Few Aggie fans will remember that, though, instead of the foul that doomed the Aggies.
With 2:05 left in the game and Utah State down by three, Wesley came down with a rebound and was quickly surrounded by several Cougar players trying to tie his arms up and take back the ball. In attempt to maintain possession, Wesley was whistled for throwing an elbow.
“I was trying to protect the ball,” Wesley said. “It’s instinct. They were kind of swiping at it … and when you get caught in the heat of battle you turn to your instincts.”
Because of a new rule, a player is not allowed to swing his elbows out wide. Both Wesley and Morrill said they were familiar with the rule.
“They said I have to keep my elbows in,” Wesley said. “I thought I tucked ‘em, but apparently I didn’t.”
The foul was Wesley’s fifth and he was forced to finish the game from the bench, accompanied by the taunting “left, right, left, right” chant from the BYU student section as he took his seat.
“Those fouls are killing us in the first half,” Morrill said, “then I’m just trying to play him and trying to get him out before he gets his third. And you’re just shaking the dice out there having him play with two.”
Wesley also had to be benched early in the victory over Weber State when he picked up two quick fouls at the start of the first half.
“But what do you do when he gets two that quickly?” Morrill said. “He’s got to quit fouling. I mean, it’s been a deal his whole career. He’s got to quit doing it. He doesn’t have much time left.”
`Because he is a senior, Wesley will not have another chance to win in Provo. The last time the Aggies took a victory from the Cougars’ home court was when he was sitting on the bench with a redshirt watching his teammates trounce the home team by over 20 points.
Despite the loss against BYU, Morrill said Wesley played well Wednesday.
“He did a lot of good things,” Morrill said. “I mean, they had to monster him because he was scoring at will. You look at his line for what did he play? Twenty-five minutes? He had an awfully good line. And it’s hard to pass out of their double-team because it’s big and it’s hard to pass out of, but he made pretty good decisions.”
Wesley’s senior season is still getting underway, and like the Utah State basketball team, he’s ready to embrace the next challenge.
“It’s basketball. There’s a winner and a loser,” Wesley said. “It’s frustrating, but we have a whole season to play and this isn’t going to make or break our season.”
– tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu