By Wade Denniston

After losing forward Pharoah Davis and center Donnie Johnson, the Utah State University men's basketball team is looking for some big-time players to fill the roles they once held.

The Aggies may have found one in Shawn Daniels. Daniels, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound junior forward from Bakersfield, Calif., was Mr. Everything on Saturday night in USU's 92-73 victory over Global Sports.

In 19 minutes of playing time, Daniels racked up a game-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 4-of-7 from the free throw line, while pulling down four rebounds and dishing one assist.

"Big Shawn can do some things," Aggie head coach Stew Morrill said. "He's a very good passer. We've given him the freedom to take the ball sometimes on the break. He's got great hands, the guy catches everything."

And according to Street & Smith's college basketball magazine, Daniels has been picked as the top newcomer in the Big West Conference this season.

Aggie fans can look forward to Daniels putting up some numbers in each game this year.

"I'm going to give it my all every night," Daniels said.

USU held Global to 39 percent from the field on 28-of-71 shooting while forcing 18 turnovers.

Offensively, the Aggies dropped in 33-of-66 shots to break even at 50 percent, but it was the 23 turnovers that let the score be somewhat respectable.

"They've got a really good team," Global head coach Darrell Johnson said after USU's 92-73 victory. "I thought they defended us better than anyone has so far."

The Aggies got out of the gate quickly when senior guard Troy Rolle buried a three-pointer from the right side. USU pushed its lead to five when Daniels hit a layup with 18:59 to go in the first half.

Daniels had 12 points in the first half as he led USU to a 54-27 halftime lead behind 5-of-6 shooting. Global was paced by ex-Aggie Marcus Saxon's 10 points in first 20 minutes as he was determined to make a good showing in his return to Logan.

A three-pointer by junior guard Bernard Rock gave the Aggies a 57-27 lead with 17:45 to go in the game.

After two free throws by Global's Gentry Sparks cut the lead to 28, another USU trey by Rolle pushed the lead back over the 30-point mark, 60-29.

The Aggies continued to pour it on as they opened up a 35-point lead, 70-35, with 11:39 to go on a Daniels 4-footer.

"We were up 35 and I'm looking at the clock and I'm like, 'Whoa, how did we get up this much?' We were just up three," Daniels said. "I was just surprised we went up that fast."

However, Global finished the game by outscoring USU 38-22.

"Toward the end of the game, we kind of let up," Daniels said. "The last part of the game, we really had a lot of turnovers."

Saxon and another former USU player, Kevin Rice, had five and 8 points respectively for Global over the final 10 minutes, including a Rice dunk over sophomore guard Rashaun Thomas that brought back fond memories for Aggie fans.

Saxon finished the game with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Rice added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting with eight rebounds for Global.

The only other Aggie to join Daniels in double figures was Rolle, who went 4-of-7 from the field, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, while pulling down five rebounds.

Sophomore guard Tony Brown struggled from the field as he had only seven points on 3-of-10 shooting, just 1-of-7 from the three-point line.

"He's got to shoot the ball better than that," Morrill said. "He'll be glad that one doesn't go down stat-wise."

Rock led all newcomers in minutes played with 20. The junior from Mayer, Ariz., dished out three assists and dropped in eight points on 2-of-4 shooting from the floor, with both baskets coming from beyond the three-point line. The 5-foot-10, 165-pounder also had one steal to his name, but turned it over three times.

"Bernard is just lightning quick," Daniels said. "You look at him one minute and then you turn away and he's gone. That's the good thing about having a good point guard that can get you the ball."

Each player on the team, with the exception of Chad Evans, who is a redshirt possibility, saw at least 11 minutes of playing time and scored at least one basket.

USU will open its official preseason play at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Spectrum against Simon Fraser University.

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