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LONG BEACH, CALIF. -- Sophomore forward T.J. Robinson scored 25 points on 8-of-9 shooting and sophomore guard Casper Ware chipped in 19 points to lead the Long Beach State 49ers (6-4) over the Utah State Aggies (6-4), 75-62.
The Aggies won the battle of the boards and committed fewer turnovers than the 49ers, but could not handle the athletic and energetic play of Long Beach State.
Junior forward Tai Wesley finished the night 22 points, recorded seven rebounds and scored nearly half of the Aggies field goals.
The thing we lacked tonight was any energy, any emotion, any togetherness. All those things you have to have on a basketball team. We didn't have that tonight.
–USU Head Coach Stew Morrill
"We only had one guy play really well tonight and that was Tai Wesley," said USU Head Coach Stew Morrill. "The thing we lacked tonight was any energy, any emotion, any togetherness. All those things you have to have on a basketball team. We didn't have that tonight."
Wesley hit a jumper to give the Aggies an early 9-7 lead, but Robinson hit two of his nine free-throws and senior guard Stephan Gilling hit a 3-pointer to give the 49ers the lead. Wesley hit another jumper to tie the game at 26l, but Long Beach would out-score the Aggies to finish the first half and a take a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Neither team played particularly well in the first half, but the Aggies found themselves down only 31-28 at intermission. However the 49ers came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half and pushed their lead to double-digits on a lay-up by Robinson less than seven minutes into the half.
The 49ers shot 61.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond-the-arc during the second half, and finished the night shooting 51 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from the 3-point line.
That's the disappointing thing; we just kinda rolled over when things got tough. We didn't compete. We didn't show a lot of heart." - Morrill
"We just talked in the locker room about we've gotta play better to have a chance to win," said Coach Morrill about his teams halftime talk. "Well we didn't play better, we played a lot worse and when things got tough we kinda gave in. That's the disappointing thing; we just kinda rolled over when things got tough. We didn't compete. We didn't show a lot of heart."
Utah State allowed Long Beach to shoot better and score more points than any other opponent so far this season. The Aggies only managed 38.2 percent from the field and a dismal 20 percent from behind the 3-point line to finish the night.
Wesley was the only Aggie to score in double-digits. Preston Medlin came off the bench and scored nine points. Nate Bendall added eight and Jared Quayle finished with seven.
"This was the worst road performance we've had by far," said coach Morrill. "When it rains it pours. Everything you could imagine went bad."
This was the worst road performance we've had by far. When it rains it pours. Everything you could imagine went bad.
–Morrill
Aggie perimeter starters Pooh Williams, Tyler Newbold, and Jared Quayle combined to hit 4-of-24 shots from the field. Newbold had a strong performance against Cal State Bakersfield earlier in the week scoring 13 points on 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-7 from three point range, but the Aggie guard only managed two points both coming from the free-throw line.
Williams has averaged three points per game during the two-game road swing and Quayle has averaged only six points. Quayle is second in scoring on the team averaging 11.9 points per game. Williams was averaging 11.2 points from the field on 61.1 percent shooting from the field and 60 percent shooting from 3-point range before the road trip, but after two dismal games is down to an 8.1 average.
The Aggies won't get much time to rest as they host the Basketball Travelers Invitational, Dec. 21-23. The Aggies will face Morehead State, Cal State Fullerton, and in-state rival Weber State.
"This is as good as our tournament has been in a long time," said Coach Morrill.
Weber State and Cal State Fullerton face off at 5:30 p.m. to start the tournament.
The Aggies will play against the Morehead State Eagles for the second game and tip-off is scheduled at 8 p.m.
