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LOGAN — When Utah State jumped out to a 13-5 lead on perennial Mountain West power New Mexico, it looked like the young Aggies team had turned a corner.
Three-point shots were falling. Freshman Julion Pearre was running the offense well. The Aggies were finding the open man, which included a pair of treys by Pearre and a long 3-pointer from the top of the key by veteran sophomore wing Jalen Moore.
Pearre hit a 3-pointer with 17:08 left in the half to tie the game at 5-5, then Moore followed less than 30 seconds later with a three of his own. Pearre capped an 8-0 run with a transition layup from David Collette to go on top 10-5 with 16:12 left in the half.
But then the Aggies began to falter in two key areas, perhaps showing the inexperience of a team with only one eligible senior: free throws and offensive rebounding. The Lobos took advantage, coming out with a 66-60 road win at the Spectrum.
“We had energy, we executed our plays, we were driving and finding the open man,” Pearre said of the first five minutes of the game. “Everything was falling for us. But towards the end, we weren’t executing the way we should. That’s what happened.”
Hugh Greenwood also happened. The New Mexico sharpshooter from Australia finished with a team-high 22 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead the Lobos (11-5, 3-1 MWC) to a win just days after losing 56-42 at San Diego State.
Moore led Utah State with 22 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. The Aggies were outrebounded by New Mexico 36-22 — with a 14-4 disparity on the offensive glass.
We had energy, we executed our plays, we were driving and finding the open man. Everything was falling for us. But towards the end, we weren't executing the way we should. That's what happened.
–Utah State guard Julion Pearre
Pearre had one of his best games in an Aggie uniform, finishing with 18 points, three assists and three rebounds in the fourth double-digit scoring game of his career. His shots fell early on a night when the Aggies shot 46.5 percent from the field and 45 percent from deep, both among the top five shooting performances of 2014-15.
But Pearre also made only 4-of-9 free throws, missing his first five foul shots.
“Julion Pearre had a great game but the free throws,” Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. “It was maybe his best game as an Aggie. He’s just all about the right things: effort, concentration and doing everything he can to defend and run the offense. He’s a good player, and he had a great game.”
Utah State (9-7, 2-2 MWC) also defended well in spurts. Greenwood didn’t score for the better part of 14 minutes as Utah State locked him down and forced him to pass the ball in the first half. But when the sharpshooting Australian got going, he finished with a team-high 11 points and three assists by halftime, then followed a similar pattern in the second half.
The Lobos’ final offensive possession was a perfect sampling of Greenwood’s overall game. With the shot clock winding down, the Aggies played most of 34 seconds defending the long Aussie. But the veteran put up a shot in the final second, banking in a 3-point dagger as the shot-clock buzzer sounded to go up 65-60 with 33 seconds remaining.
“He’s a veteran,” Morrill said of Greenwood. “Him and (Deshawn Delaney, who had 15 points and six rebounds) carried them, two veterans from a couple of great teams. Those are their go-to guys.”
Recovering from this loss starts from the free-throw line for Utah State, which made just 11 of 20 attempts from the charity stripe. The Aggies missed five of their first seven foul shots, finishing the first half 2-of-7 from the line.
Getting better in that aspect goes back to practice — something most of this Utah State team has little experience doing in their young college careers.
“We just have to take it seriously,” Moore said of the team’s free-throw woes. “When you step up to the line in practice, take time off of live work to shoot free throws, just take it seriously. Even if you’re tired, you’ve got to go up and knock them down.
“You’re going to be tired in a game, too. Just focus when you get in the game. Don’t let the crowd affect you.”
Utah State will try to put a week that saw it go 0-2 in Mountain West play behind it as it has a week off until hosting Air Force on Saturday. Tipoff for that game is 4 p.m. MST.
“We played hard, hung in there when we were down and gave ourselves a chance,” Morrill said. “But the big thing to jump out was our inability to rebound and missing free throw after free throw. Maybe that’s our inexperience showing up.
“Usually those guys can make them in practice. They will in games, too.”
