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Aggies drop heartbreaker to BYU By
Doug Layne
The last time Utah State defeated BYU in the Marriott Center, not one of the current players was over the age of 9. The only player who had ever heard of the Aggies or even dreamed to play for USU was Tony Brown. Going into the Dec. 16 contest against the Cougars, USU hoped to end its dry spell of 15 years in and remain perfect in the battle for the Oquirrh Bucket, which is given to the best team in the in-state rivalry games. USU had won its last 10 road games dating to last year when it defeated Santa Barbara on the road in January. The Cougars had also won their last 10 home games. One of those two records had to end. Unfortunately for USU the jinx in Provo remained. The Cougars stole the game away from Utah State and won 69-67. "We played real hard," Coach Stew Morrill said. The Aggies saw themselves down early as both Mekeli Westley and Trent Whiting of BYU combined made their first eight shots. "Whiting really lit us up," Morrill said. It looked as if the Cougars were going to run away with the game as they enjoyed an early 11-point lead. But the Aggies, who last year were known as a team that would never give up or allow themselves to be bullied, went on a run of their own and outscored BYU, 14-4. Leading the way was Curtis Bobb, who finished the game with 13 points; his three-pointer brought USU within one. The rest of the first half remained close and both teams were hot as USU shot 52 percent and BYU shot 63 percent in the first half. It looked as if the Aggies were going to go into halftime with the lead, but Whiting who finished the game with 22 points, spoiled USU's second lead of the game as he nailed a three-pointer from 45 feet out. The second half was a different story and the Aggie defense stepped up the pressure a notch and allowed BYU to shoot only 48 percent in the second half and out rebounded them 33 to 26 outplayed the Cougars for most of the second half and Dimitri Jorssen who scored 15 points dunked the ball to give the Aggies the lead. The Aggies continued to dominate the second half and Bernard Rock nailed two of his eight straight points from 10 feet out to give the Aggies a six-point advantage. "We led the majority of the second half," Morrill said."I feel this is one we let get away." The Aggies saw their lead cut down to only two as Terrell Lyday nailed a three-pointer and then Whiting took the ball away from the Aggies and tied the game with a lay-up. The Aggies regained the lead as Jorssen hit a jumper with less than a minute left. Then Cougars, who struggled at the charity line, came up with some huge free throws. Westley, who finished the game with 23 points, was fouled in the closing seconds by Tony Brown, and nailed both free throws to seal the victory for the Cougars.
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