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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Utah State men's basketball went into Saturday night’s game against Southern Utah having won 32 straight games at home and with their 65-62 come-from-behind victory, the Aggies extended that streak.
Utah State basketball coach Stew Morrill hopes to create a road winning streak when the Aggies visit the Texas A&M- Corpus Christi Islanders Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. (MT).
The Aggies previous game had several ups and downs for Utah State starting with the loss of senior forward Brady Jardine to an ankle injury four minutes in the game.
Senior guard Brockeith Pane struggled throughout, finishing with just 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting (0-for-3 from beyond the arc). The Aggies struggled early against the Thunderbrids trailing 28-25 at the half.
The good news for Morrill is that the comeback was led mostly by his bench. Freshman guard Steven Thornton and junior forward Kyisean Reed both recorded 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. With Jardine not at full strength for the next few games, Morrill will need all of his bench players to fill that gap.
Possibly the best news for the Aggies and their fans is that Utah State is traveling to Texas to take on a team that is struggling early in this young season.
Senior guard Chris Hawkins-Mast, who currently leads the team in scoring averaging 12.0 points per game, leads the Islanders. The 6-foot-6 native of Washington, D.C., also averages 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game and is one of the few A&M-CC players returning from last season. Islander’s head coach Willis Wilson is in his inaugural season in Corpus Christi and will have his hands full with just 10 scholarship players on his roster.
Morrill will need to keep his players' heads in the game as this could easily be a trap game for the Aggies. He will especially need Pane, who has struggled with foul trouble so far this season, to play well. Look for more solid bench play from USU and the Aggies should be able to start strong with a big lead and then build upon it throughout the game.
While it may not seem like a very difficult or taxing game to those in Logan, Utah. Morrill knows better and will use this game to prepare his young squad for the meat of its season. As long as Pane repeats the performance he had against BYU to kick off the season, Utah State should have no problem running away with this game.
Justin McKissick is a KSL.com contributor originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is currently seeking a communications degree. Justin has been covering USU sports since 2011. Follow him on Twitter: @justin_sr.
