WARRIOR BASKETBALL
Aggies freshman frustrates ’Bows
STORY SUMMARY »
LOGAN, Utah » Hawaii threatened to end Utah State's dominance at home this season, but couldn't quite keep up with the Aggies in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Next Up
at San Jose St., tomorrow
|
The Rainbow Warriors stayed with Utah State, the preseason WAC favorite, most of the night before falling 86-80 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum yesterday.
The Rainbows (4-9) were led by Matt Gibson's season-high 25 points and eight assists, and Bobby Nash's 19 points. But it wasn't enough to counter a career night from Utah State forward Tai Wesley, who led all scorers with 27 points. Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll, the WAC's leading scorer, added 26 points, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
Wesley made seven of his eight field-goal attempts as Utah State (11-5) shot 61 percent from the field and went 31-for-41 from the free-throw line to improve to 9-0 at home.
STAR-BULLETIN
FULL STORY »
By Jeff Hunter
Special to the Star-Bulletin
LOGAN, Utah » The Hawaii basketball team did its best to prepare for last night's Western Athletic Conference opener at Utah State by arriving in Utah a couple of days early.
But while the Rainbow Warriors didn't seem bothered by the altitude or the bitter cold in Cache Valley, they weren't ready for the emergence of USU's Tai Wesley. The freshman forward abused UH's interior defense for a career-high 27 points in the Aggies' 86-80 victory at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
"(Jaycee Carroll) was our main focus going into the game because we know what kind of a scorer he is and what he brings to their team," said UH guard/ forward Bobby Nash. "We tried to take him away, and we did a pretty good job of that. But when that happens, another player needs to step up, and Wesley was that person."
Carroll ended up with 26 points while going 4-for-4 from 3-point range, but it was Wesley who sparked the Aggies. The 6-foot-6 forward scored USU's first eight points of the game, then poured in 15 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half to help the Aggies (11-5 overall, 1-0 WAC) pull away for good.
The 21-year-old Wesley, who redshirted at Utah State before serving a two-year mission for the Mormon church, went 7-for-8 from the field and 13-for-16 from the free-throw line to nearly double his previous career best of 14 points.
"He's pretty good for a freshman," USU head coach Stew Morrill declared. "He believes he can play, and there's a lot to say for someone who believes they can play. He's got great hands, a good feel for the game and he's hard to guard."
Wesley was particularly hard to guard for the Rainbows (4-9, 0-1) due to the absence of senior center Stephen Verwers, who is out for the season after breaking his leg during practice on Christmas Day.
"We were playing with a smaller lineup out there, and they took advantage of that," UH coach Bob Nash said. "They recognized where they had the advantage, and they went to it. That's why Stew wins in this building. He's a very good coach, and you have to give them credit."
And yet, the Aggies, who are 134-12 at home in Morrill's 10 years at the helm, were unable to pull away from Hawaii until late in the second half. The Rainbows managed to get to within one point of the lead twice, and never trailed by more than six points until Utah State put together a 9-0 run with 5 minutes to go on the strength of six free throws and a 3-pointer from Carroll.
Hawaii was led by guard Matt Gibson, who put up a season-high 25 points and dished out eight assists in 38 minutes to make him the favorite target of the crowd of 8,053.
The Rainbows also got five 3-pointers and 19 points from Nash, 16 points from Riley Luettgerodt and 12 points from senior swingman Jared Dillinger.
The problem was that too many 3-point shots failed to go down when the game was on the line in the second half, and the Aggies ended up shooting 41 free throws of their own, making 31.
"Credit them for executing their stuff, staying with it, grinding it out and getting to the free-throw line," Gibson said of the Aggies, who won their sixth straight game.
"I mean, when they needed big shots, they went inside and got fouled. And when we needed big shots, we settled for jump shots and that's probably what cost us."
WAC Standings
|
WAC |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Boise State |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
10 |
3
|
New Mexico State |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
7 |
9
|
Utah State |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
11 |
5
|
Fresno State |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
8 |
6
|
Nevada |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1/2 |
8 |
5
|
San Jose State |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
6 |
6
|
Hawaii |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
4 |
9
|
Idaho |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
3 |
9
|
Louisiana Tech |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
3 |
10 |
Yesterday
Fresno St. 61, Louisiana Tech 44
Utah St. 86, Hawaii 80
Today
No games scheduled
Tomorrow
Boise St. at Idaho
Fresno St. at New Mexico St.
Utah St. at Nevada
Hawaii at San Jose St.
Utah St. 86, Hawaii 80
Rainbow Warriors (4-9, 0-1)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Owsley |
2 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
21 |
4 |
2 |
4
|
Nash |
7 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
37 |
1 |
2 |
19
|
Gibson |
7 |
11 |
8 |
9 |
38 |
2 |
8 |
25
|
Dillinger |
3 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
40 |
5 |
3 |
12
|
Luettgerodt |
6 |
13 |
4 |
5 |
36 |
6 |
4 |
16
|
Nitoto |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
2
|
Campbell |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Amis |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
4 |
0 |
2
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Totals |
27 |
57 |
16 |
18 |
200 |
28 |
19 |
80 |
Aggies (11-5, 1-0)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Wesley |
7 |
8 |
13 |
16 |
33 |
3 |
3 |
27
|
Wilkinson |
3 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
26 |
6 |
1 |
8
|
Clark |
3 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
30 |
0 |
4 |
8
|
Carroll |
8 |
11 |
6 |
8 |
40 |
6 |
2 |
26
|
Newbold |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
24 |
2 |
4 |
1
|
Spraggins |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
16 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Stephens |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
0 |
3 |
5
|
DuCharme |
3 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
21 |
4 |
2 |
9
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
Totals |
25 |
41 |
31 |
41 |
200 |
24 |
19 |
86 |
Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- Utah St. 36, Hawaii 33
3-point goals -- Hawaii 10-24 (Nash 5-11, Gibson 3-4, Dillinger 2-7, Luettgerodt 0-2), Utah St. 5-12 (Carroll 4-4, Stephens 1-1, Spraggins 0-1, DuCharme 0-1, Clark 0-2, Newbold 0-3). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 25, Utah St. 13.
Steals --Hawaii 7 (Nash 2, Gibson 2, Luettgerodt 2, Amis), Utah St. 8 (Spraggins 3, Clark 3, Wilkinson, Carroll). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 2 (Amis 2), Utah St. 3 (Wesley, Spraggins, DuCharme). Turnovers -- Hawaii 15(gibson 4, Dillinger 4, Luettgerodt 4, Nitoto, Campbell, Amis), Utah St. 12 (Wesley 2, Clark 2, Newbold 2, Spraggins 2, Stephens 2, Wilkinson, Carroll).
Officials -- Scott Thornley, Randy McCall, Bob Staffen. A-- 8,053.