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LOGAN, Utah -- Sophomore forward Tai Wesley scored 18 points and senior forward Gary Wilkinson added 13 points to lead Utah State's men's basketball team to a 73-46 exhibition win against Division II Northwest Nazarene in front of 7,706 Dee Glen Smith Spectrum fans Friday night.
Wesley, who was 7-of-10 from the field, added four assists in 21 minutes, while Wilkinson pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
Sophomore guard Tyler Newbold added nine points, while junior guard Jared Quayle had eight points and seven rebounds in his first game in Aggie Blue.
Utah State broke open a close game midway through the first-half as it held Northwest Nazarene scoreless for nearly eight minutes to take a 32-15 lead with just under six minutes to play. The Crusaders finished the half on a 7-0 run to make the score 32-22 at the break.
Wilkinson led Utah State with 10 first-half points as the Aggies shot 44.4 percent from the field (12-27) and held Northwest Nazarene to 32.1 percent shooting (9-28).
Wesley scored 12 of his points in the second-half, including seven in a row for Utah State as part of a 17-4 run to extend its margin to 25 at 62-37 with just over five minutes to play in the game.
Sophomore forward Matt Formisano scored the final two points for USU with 27 seconds left on a layup to give the home team its largest lead of the game at 73-46, which would end up being the final score.
Utah State finished the game by shooting 47.2 percent from the field (25-53) and limited Northwest Nazarene to 32.7 percent shooting (18-55). USU was also 21-26 (.808) from the free throw line and 2-12 (.167) from three-point range, while NNU made 6-of-11 charity tosses and 4-of-16 three-point attempts (.250).
Utah State also outrebounded the Crusaders, 44-28, including a 33-19 advantage on the defensive glass. USU finished the game with 20 assists and 18 turnovers, while NNU had 10 assists and 18 turnovers as well.
Utah State will play its final exhibition game next weekend when it hosts Concordia University on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
(Press release from USU Athletics)
