Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
at Utah State
Aggies Rally to Down WSU in Opener
11/14/2010 4:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LOGAN, Utah -- Utah State used a strong second half to rally past the Weber State men's basketball team for a 77-65 win as both teams opened up the 2010 regular season on Saturday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
"I thought, overall, that our kids played really, really hard," said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. "I was really proud of how hard we fought against a really good, veteran Utah State team. They (Utah State) are good. You can't hold them down forever."
"A lot of credit goes to them. When they had to make plays, I thought their veterans really made plays. Tai Wesley was really good in the second half, and they executed their plan to get him the ball really well."
The Wildcats jumped on the Aggies early and held the lead for the entire first half as they shot 50 percent from the floor on 14 of 28 shooting over the first 20 minutes to take a 36-29 lead at the break.
In the second half, Damian Lillard scored Weber State's first nine points of the period, pushing the Wildcats out to an eight-point lead at 45-37, at which point the Aggies got things going.
Utah State scored the next 17 points as the 'Cats went scoreless for nearly six minutes, and the Aggies held a 54-45 lead with 10:39 left.
"They threw the ball inside and got to the foul line a lot, which is what they do" said Rahe. "They're very good at getting to the foul line. I thought Tai got going. I thought we got a little bit tentative because we were fouling some, and that took away from our aggressiveness. They got aggressive, and we didn't as much. The aggressiveness is what usually turns a ballgame, and they had that stretch in the second half, about seven or eight minutes, where they were the aggressor and they got away from us a little bit."
The Aggies led by 10 points with 7:20 remaining, but the Wildcats made a move with a quick 6-0 run to get back in the game at 63-59 at the 4:46 mark.
"We still hung in there," said Rahe. "We cut that thing down to four. Usually when Utah State makes a run, at home, in the second half, they get away from everybody. Our guys wouldn't let them get away from them."
Utah State answered with a 6-0 run of their own to push the lead back to double-figures, and the Wildcats would get no closer than nine points over the final three minutes.
Lillard led all scorers with 28 points on the night, hitting 9 of 17 shots from the floor, including 6 of 10 from three-point range. The junior point guard scored 19 of his 28 in the second half to keep the Wildcats in the game.
"(Damian) got a lot of attention," said Rahe. "They were moving different guys on him. They were really cognizant of where he was. When he put the ball on the floor they had two or three guys there. He did a really nice job. I thought he got a little loose with the ball in the first half trying to make things happen and had four turnovers. But he also affected the game by getting other guys shots and moving the ball."
"I thought he handled it really well. Damian's a good player, and he's going to see that kind of thing. That's whats coming. When you're a good player, and you earn that kind of respect, people are going to game-plan for you. They game-planned for him and I thought he still performed really well."
Trevor Morris added eight points for the Wildcats, while Kyle Bullinger, Byron Fulton and Kyle Tresnak each added seven. Tresnak also led the Wildcats with six rebounds on the night.
The Aggies placed three players in double figures, led by Brockeith Pane's 23 points. Tai Wesley scored 19 points to lead the Aggies to a 40-16 edge in points in the paint, and Brian Green added 10 points for Utah State.
Weber State will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 16 as they host Colorado-Christian to open the 2010 home schedule. Tip-off at the Dee Events Center will be at 5:30 p.m. as the opener of a men's and women's doubleheader. The Wildcat women's team will face Utah as the nightcap of the twinbill, beginning at 8:00 p.m.
