Collette vital in Aggies' turn-around win over MWC-leading Wyoming


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LOGAN — David Collette needed this one.

The Aggies, stinging from an overtime loss at UNLV less than 36 hours prior to Tuesday’s tipoff, needed the redshirt freshman to have a big game as Utah State welcomed Mountain West-leading Wyoming men’s basketball to Logan.

And what a big game he had.

Collette finished with a game-high 16 points and five rebounds as the Aggies handed the Cowboys their second league loss of the year with a 56-44 victory at the Spectrum.

“That was one of the things our coaches were talking about: how were we going to respond to a tough loss?” Collette said after the game. “Are we going to wallow in it, or are we going to come back and make a big win? We came back.”

Collette scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half, matching Mountain West preseason player of the year Larry Nance Jr. for Wyoming. The Murray High alum then scored on a turnaround jumper in the opening minute of the second half to spur a 9-0 run coming out of the locker room, and the Aggies held Nance without a second-half field goal until 8:33 remained in the game.

Utah State (12-8, 5-3 MWC) nearly took a 29-23 lead into the locker room, but Riley Grabau took the inbounds pass with 3 seconds on the clock and banked in a beyond-half-court heave to pull the Pokes (17-4, 6-2 MWC) within three at the break.

But it didn’t matter to the Aggies, according to Collette.

Utah State's David Collette (13) goes up for a layup while being guarded by Wyoming's Josh Adams (14) during an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, in Logan, Utah. (AP Photo/Herald Journal, John Zsiray)
Utah State's David Collette (13) goes up for a layup while being guarded by Wyoming's Josh Adams (14) during an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, in Logan, Utah. (AP Photo/Herald Journal, John Zsiray)

“We came in the locker room, and we were hyped and excited,” he added. “We were still winning, so it’s a good thing. The focus was coming out, putting them on it early and hitting them hard.”

The win came just three days after Utah State’s heartbreaking 79-77 overtime loss at UNLV on Saturday. The Aggies nearly won the game in regulation, then again in overtime when Collette’s jumper put his team up two with seconds left. But the Rebels’ Cody Doolin and Christian Wood made four free throws in the final seconds of the extra period to hand the Aggies a loss in Las Vegas.

“We should’ve never been in that situation. If we make a few free throws in regulation, that game’s over,” Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. “But still, (Collette) bounced back and had a really good game. We got him the ball off the block, and he produced. That was huge.”

Collette also stayed on the court for a lengthy 28 minutes of action. He finished the game with only one foul, tied for a season-best for the rookie who averages 3.7 fouls per game. Collette made the fewest fouls since finishing with one in 20 minutes of a 61-33 home win over San Jose State on Dec. 30.

“He did a good job,” Morrill said of Collette. “The zone helped; he wasn’t isolated man-to-man the whole night. That certainly helped.”

Wyoming missed its first three field-goal attempts of the second half, and didn’t get on the board until Alan Herndon’s dunk with 14:51 remaining. Meanwhile, Julion Pearre’s 3-pointer from the wing gave the Aggies their first double-digit lead of the game at 36-26 with 17:37 remaining, and the hosts cruised to the finish line.

The Pokes shot just 36 percent from the field on the night, and the Aggies held them to 18 second-half points and 28 rebounds — a season-low for a Utah State opponent.

“I felt like we really bothered the ball,” Utah State guard Chris Smith said. “They didn’t shoot that great. Our defense really worked tonight.”

After being outrebounded in 11 of their first 13 games of the season, the Aggies outrebounded their opponent for the second-straight game. Utah State held UNLV to 33 boards on Saturday.

“We’re just tired of getting yelled at, so we just want to rebound,” Smith said with a smile.

Collette got plenty of help from his teammates, too. Smith had the 10th double-figure game of his career with 13 points and a career-high two steals. Jalen Moore added seven points, five rebounds and two assists, and Darius Perkins had six points and a game-high seven assists.

Defensively, the Aggies forced 14 turnovers, and JoJo McGlaston came off the bench for five points and five rebounds, and he also forced two of the home team’s four blocks as Utah State’s zone defense stifled the Pokes on a cold-shooting night.

The Aggies also got seven steals on the night, the 11th game of the season with more than five steals.

“Utah State was a good team and they were the better team tonight in about every area they could be,” Wyoming coach Larry Shyatt said after the game. “The most disappointing part to me was that I saw our players do things out of character. I talked about us being so consistent this year and our defense was somewhat consistent, but offensively we did things that we haven’t done this year.”

Wyoming’s defense held veteran wing Jalen Moore to a season-low scoring night, snapping his string of 17-straight games with double-digit scoring. The sophomore from Sky View High finished with only seven points, five rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes of play.

Utah State heads on the road against the Aztecs for a Saturday showdown at San Diego State. Tipoff against the Aztecs (16-5, 6-2 MWC) is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST on the CBS Sports Network.

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