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LOGAN — With four returning players to the 2014-15 Utah State squad, the Aggies have been piecing together an offense and learning a bit as they go.
Tuesday night's lesson wasn't fun for most of the players, but it showed the emergence of another go-to guy down the stretch.
Chris Smith scored a career-high 25 points and added a career-best four assists in the Aggies' 91-81 home loss to BYU in front of 10,270 fans at the Spectrum. Tyler Haws led all scorers with 35 points, and Kyle Collinsworth chipped in 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Cougars (6-2).
The loss snapped the Aggies' 29-game home winning streak against in-state competition, a streak that began after BYU's last win in Logan on Jan. 8, 2000.
"I had to (score that much)," Smith said. "The home crowd really came in and helped me with that."
Smith finished 7-of-10 from the field, including a late flurry of 3-point activity that brought Utah State (3-3) within single digits at 83-74 with 52 seconds remaining. The junior guard had career highs in made field goals, made free throws (eight) and tied his career-best in field goal attempts.
It was also the most points scored by a Utah State player since Spencer Butterfield went off for 31 points against UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 20, 2013.
"I think that's a good thing: whoever steps up, just keep giving them the ball," Smith said. "We've got to keep doing that, but also remember to rebound and play better defense."
Utah State's guard play Tuesday night was a high point for the Aggies as Darius Perkins also totaled a new career-high with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The junior benefitted from some late activity, driving inside for a lay-up with 25 seconds remaining to pull the Aggies within eight at 89-81. But the home team would get no closer.
"We felt like we had to take advantage of their defense extended out, drive by them and make plays," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "Chris had a really good game, all outside of that period where the ball went out of our hands. It was frustrating, but a great game for 30 minutes."
But BYU took control when Haws drained a jumper that put the Cougars up 58-48 with 9:58 to play. Redshirt freshman David Collette brought the Aggies within 61-53 with 8:06 remaining, but fouled out four minutes later on a call in the paint that sent the Utah State student section into a frenzy.
"It was a good basketball game for about 30 minutes," Morrill said. "Then we just hit a spell where we had trouble with consistency; there was a spell of about 6-7 minutes where we played poor on both ends of the floor. We turned it over, couldn't rebound, and that was the difference in the game.
"BYU adapted to us, and they've got a lot of good players. I give them all the credit in the world. We've got to be more consistent if we are going to stay in games with that caliber of a team. There's no need to get our heads down; we've just got to try to get better."
Collette finished with 12 points and five rebounds for Utah State.
Veteran wing Jalen Moore chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Aggies, recording the first double-double of his career and continuing his four-game streak of double-figure scoring nights.
"I think we were more consistent this game than we've been in the past," Moore said. "We played about 30 minutes really good, but then for about seven minutes or so we couldn't rebound and we didn't play great as a defense. We're getting better day-by-day and game-by-game, but we've still got to be more consistent."
But Utah State was also hindered by its inexperience, with the young team contributing only four points from its bench — all from post player Sean Harris, one of two seniors on the team. The Aggies' bench played a combined 56 minutes and totaled four points, five rebounds and five assists among six players.
Harris had the bulk of the minutes with 22, filling in for Collette after the latter fouled out.
"We need 30 minutes out of David Collette, and he's got to figure out how to stay on the court," Morrill said. "Right now, that's a problem."
