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After Utah State's(15-5, 6-4) near comeback against Louisiana Tech on Saturday, coach Stew Morrill said the team needed someone to step offensively; tonight, he got his wish. Jarred Shaw set a new career high with 27 points, freshman point guard Marcel Davis added 16 as the Aggies stopped their 4 game losing streak with a 77-67 win over Idaho(8-12, 4-6).
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The Aggies jumped out to an early lead due in large part to the aggressive play from Davis to start the game. He scored 6 points in the first 3 minutes, helping Utah State build and 18-3 lead. The Vandals rallied back thanks to the 3 point shooting of Connor Hill, who finished with 14 points for Idaho. Kyle Barone's jumper with 7:44 left capped a 15-2 run and Utah State's 15 point lead had evaporated to 2.
Enter Jarred Shaw. He scored 6 straight points for Utah State to help keep the Vandals at bay. Marvin Jean's 3 pointer with 5 seconds left in the half, gave the Aggies a 6 point lead at the midway point.
Ever since his less than stellar performance a week ago against Texas-Arlington, 9 points and only 3 rebounds, Shaw has been a man on a mission averaging 24 points and 11.5 rebounds in his last 2 games. He made it look easy against Idaho's front court shooting 12-15 from the field. When Barone picked up his 3rd foul less than a minute into the 2nd half, Utah State was able to run their entire offense through Shaw; with the rest of the Vandals watching on, helpless to do anything about it.
Spencer Butterfield struggled from the field, 4-9, but was still able to manage 11 points and grab 10 rebounds, Butterfield's third double-double of the season. After missing a 3 with 11:49 left in the 2nd half, Butterfield crashed the board and scored an easy lay up. That lay up sparked a 15-4 for Utah State that included back to back 3's from Tenale Roland and was capped off by a 3 point play by Shaw. The run pushed the Aggies lead to 14 and from there, the Vandals never got within single digits again.
Morrill has to be encouraged by the offensive output his 8 man rotation put out tonight. The Aggies finished the game shooting 59.6 percent from the field. Not too shabby for a team that has only broken the 40 percent mark once since Preston Medlin and Kyisean Reed went down.
The win marks Utah State's fourth straight win over Idaho and the Aggies have now improved to 11-0 this season when leading at halftime. They continue their road trip on Saturday when they travel to Seattle(7-13, 2-8). The Aggies beat the Redhawks on January 3rd, 75-66.
