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It might have been ugly, but Utah State (14-1, 5-0) outlasted San Jose State 66-60 in the Spectrum Friday to pick up their 13th straight win of the season. Led by Preston Medlin, the Aggies slugged it out in a very physical game with the Spartans.
"Their bigs were grabbin', scratchin', pawin'; whatever they had to do to stop us from scoring. It was just one of those games," junior center Jared Shaw said after the game. Shaw notched his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. "It was a physical game, but I'm glad we won."
The Aggies were never able to pull away from the Spartans, even though San Jose State was without their leading scorer, James Kinney, and Louis Garrett. Both were sitting out due to an unspecified violation of team rules.
"The guys who did play, added some athleticism out there. Their whole idea was to pressure us," coach Stew Morrill said.
Utah State had 9 turnovers in the 1st half.
"That's the best San Jose State defensive team I've seen in a number of years," Morrill said. "They made it hard for us."
But not hard enough for Preston Medlin. The junior guard scored a season high 25 points, the fifth time in seven games he has scored 20+ points.
"I'm shooting the ball pretty well and my teammates are getting me open. Guys are playing me pretty tough but I'm seein' how to get my shot, and I'm making some shots," Medlin said.
He was 6-12 from the field, 2-6 from 3-point range, and a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line, including four key free throws in the final minutes.
Utah State has a tough test ahead of them next week; first traveling to New Mexico State (9-8, 3-2) on Thursday and then Denver (8-7, 4-1) on Saturday.
"At this point, we've done our job," Morrill said. "We've gotten some road wins and protected our home court in league; now it's time to get better next week and see what we can do on the road."
