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FRESNO, CALIF. -- Utah State Aggie junior forward Brian Green led the team in scoring for the second straight game hitting 17 points Thursday night as the Aggies (14-6, 4-2 WAC) defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs (10-10, 3-3 WAC), 69-43.
Aggie Head Coach Stew Morrill was especially pleased with the Aggie victory.
"I would have never envisioned that kind of margin. I think it was one of those nights where things went our way," Morrill said." I was just pleased overall with our intensity and concentration on executing the game plan."
Three other Aggies scored in double-figures. Senior guard Jared Quayle had 13 points and finished with five rebounds and four assists. Junior forward Tai Wesley scored 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and junior guard Tyler Newbold hit 10 points and pulled down six rebounds.
Bulldog stand out senior forward Paul George went down with about 13 minutes left in the first half after colliding with Wesley, who was attempting to steal the ball from George, and left the game with a sprained ankle.
"I think when George went down for them, they lost a little oomph and just struggled all night to score the ball," Morrill said
Freshman center George Smith led the Bulldogs with 12 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Smith was the only Bulldog to score in double-digits, and the team, without George, struggled to find the bottom of the net. The Aggies limited the Bulldogs to an ice-cold 28.6 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from the 3-point line.
"(We) executed the game plan really well; played really hard. I thought our defense was good," Coach Morrill said.
The Aggies held a 32-18 lead headed into halftime thanks to the deadly shooting of the Aggie perimeter. The Aggie big-men struggled down low for much of the game and the Aggies' perimeter players really stepped up.
Green, for example, hit 5 of 7 shots from behind the 3-point line and 6 of 9 from the field.
"We were struggling a little bit with our size trying to score inside. Our perimeter guys stepped up and made shots when our inside guys were up against size and athletic big-guys and weren't able to score very well," Morrill said.
The Bulldogs started the second half with an 11-4 run and appeared to steal the momentum from the Aggies until Green checked in and hit his second 3-point attempt about nine minutes into the second half. Green's 3-point shot sparked a 30-4 run and the Aggies extended their lead to 32 on a lay-up from sophomore center Modou Niang.
"We had a lull there at the start of the second half where we didn't shoot it very well and Brian Green caught on fire. He's playing really confident right now coming off the bench giving us a huge lift. That's a lot of fun seeing him play like that," Morrill said.
With the win, the Aggies are only one game out of first place in the WAC Conference after losing on the road in their first two games and Quayle said the difference in the Aggies' recent road victories is all about getting back to basics.
"When we lost those two to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State, he (Coach Morrill) talked to us about coming out and enjoying basketball and just being focused on the game. We've done that for the past two road-games," Quayle said.
The Aggies travel to Moscow, Idaho next to face former Aggie assistant head coach Don Verlin and the Idaho Vandals. Idaho lost to Nevada last Saturday in Reno, but Coach Morrill and the Aggies won't be overlooking the Vandals even though they are struggling this season.
Tip-off against the Vandals is slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23 at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho.
