Defense
rises to occasion against BYU, but Aggies lose game
on turnovers
By Connor H. Jones
December 7, 2008 | After USU's Tuesday basketball
game against UC Irvine, Coach Stew Morrill said his
defense offered little resistance, and if the Aggies
were going to win against teams like BYU they would
need to step it up.
The players answered Saturday night by holding BYU
to 68 points -- 13 below than their season average and
BYU's lowest score thus far this season. Unfortunately
for the Aggies, they turned the ball over 17 times,
and BYU capitalized for 15 points.
BYU took the battle of unbeatens in the Energy Solutions
Arena, 68-63.
In the 2007-08 season USU's overall record was 24-11.
All of last season's losses have at least one thing
in common, turnovers. In every loss last season USU
turned the ball over more than its opponent. Only in
two of those 11 losses was USU's turnover total within
five of their opponent's total.
Freshman point guard Jaxon Myaer fouled out after
playing 25 total minutes with five turnovers, three
points, two assists and one steal. Sophomore power forward
Tai Wesley also fouled out, leaving the game after leading
the Aggies in minutes played with 34, racking up 12
points, four assists, four turnovers, and two steals.
Gary Wilkinson hit 6 of 11 from the floor and 10 of
11 from the free throw line, leading the team with 22
points, nine rebounds, two assists, three turnovers,
one block and one steal in 31 minutes played.
Tyler Newbold, who is quickly becoming a crowd favorite,
had 11 points including a three-pointer to tie the game.
Newbold, who Morrill said can always be counted on for
solid, level-headed play, had nine rebounds, one assist
and one block, with what seemed like an amazing zero
turnovers.
Throughout the game on Saturday evening the Aggies
seemed to be on the brink of a comeback, only to be
snuffed out by careless ball handling. It all seemed
to come to a head when, down by three, Wesley grabbed
the offensive rebound and passed it out to an open Myaer
beyond the arc. The traveling Aggie fans could be heard
swelling with excitement as Myaer wound up for the shot,
and then the fans were heard moaning with disappointment
as Myaer lost the ball by hitting it against his own
knee, straight into the hands of BYU's Jackson Emery.
As evident from this last season's 11 losses and from
the Aggie's first loss this season, ball control can
be the difference between winning and losing. The Aggies
have three more away games to shore up their ball handling
before returning to the Spectrum on Dec. 22 to face
yet another in-state rival, the University of Utah.
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