By Craig Morris

February 27, 2009 | The Aggies beat Hawaii, 82-62, in the Spectrum to secure the first outright regular season WAC championship with two conference games left to play.

Encouraged by chants of "MVP! MVP!," Gary Wilkinson led all scorers with 27 points, adding seven rebounds and two assists. Tai Wesley was back to his usual dominant self with 16 points, eight boards, and three assists. The Utah State bigs were just too much for the Rainbow Warriors, outrebounding them, 36-25.

The two teams traded baskets early and kept the game close for a little more than 10 minutes. Brady Jardine gave the Aggies yet another huge spark off the bench.

"I always kid that our people like him so well cause they're not used to a white guy jumping that high," USU coach Stew Morrill said of Jardine. "Got some good days ahead of him for sure."

Utah State led by as many as 25 late in the second half, but the pesky Warriors used a full-court press to pull it back within 14, which forced Morrill to put the starters back in to put the game away.

The lead was enough in the final few minutes to give some of the other guys a chance to play. Local favorite Clint Lee made the most of his minutes, scoring on a layup with less than a minute left on the clock for his first field goal of the season.

On a night where the big men dominated the post, Tyler Newbold made a huge statement as well with his hustle and leadership on the court.

"[Tyler] Newbold does everything that doesn't show up in a stat sheet," said Wilkinson. "As a player, as a coach, as a teammate, you love to play with Tyler Newbold. He makes this team better."

He didn't do too bad of a job with the stat sheet either, notching 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

The Rainbows had three players in double figures, but they came up short on a night when the Ags just would not be denied. It was in the air; they were not going to lose.

The next test will be Saturday at Nevada, where the Aggies will look to make a statement. They host San Jose State on March 7 for the last regular-season game and return to Reno for the WAC tournament the next week.

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