|
|||
|
By Earl Scott
After a week of practice the team played a more physical style than in the loss against Global Sport. The Aggies also used a tenacious, smothering defense, holding the Vulcans scoreless in the final eight-and-a-half minutes of the first period. "We were kind of timid last week and weren't anticipating," said Head Coach Stew Morrill. "But tonight we were getting up and getting after 'em." Forward Spencer Nelson led the Aggies in scoring with 19 points in only 22 minutes, while Mike Ahmad slammed down 17 points in 23 minutes of play. Nelson and Ahmad used their size and speed advantage to work inside and push through the smaller defenders. "It's going to be that way in a lot of games I play in," Ahmad said. "I'm a big guy and they get me in the weight room all the time to keep me strong. I'm always determined to score … whether it's by a pass or an offensive rebound." Ahmad went to the hoop strong on his first shot, slamming a two-handed dunk to emphasize that he and the team had learned from their shooting mistakes in the first game, he said. Guard Mark Brown hasn't practiced in 10 days and missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury, giving Chris Huber extra minutes. The extra time has benefited Huber as he scored eight points and displayed more confidence and aggressiveness. "I'm starting to not think as much," Huber said. "I'm still getting used to how everyone plays and likes their passes and stuff, but the extra time is helping." Morrill was encouraged by the play of Huber and said he was much improved over the week before. Cardell Butler lobbed in 14 points for USU including two three-pointers and disrupting the passing lanes of the Vulcans. After they made a few early three-point shots, Butler and the team stepped up the defense taking away their outside shots. "This is what we need, to come out aggressive … with a lot of enthusiasm," Butler said. "If you don't guard, coach is going to get on you and you'll see your minutes go down; you have to guard." Senior Forward Ian McVey came off the bench to score 12 points and a blocked shot to contribute to the win. Although USU lead by as many as 31 points late in the second half and shot 56 percent from the field, it was the team's defense that Hawaii-Hilo Head Coach Jeff Law felt was the biggest difference in the game. "I thought their defense was great," he said. "We couldn't get into a lot of our stuff, which got a lot of our guys frustrated." The Aggies have no plans to rest on one victory; they still see plenty of room for improvement on defense with a few lapses they had after the game was put away. When there were a couple of substitutions made, the team fell off a little, Morrill said. There's no room for any kind of drop-off. If these guys want to play, then they have to produce. Vulcan guard Ryan Abrahams took advantage of the occasional defensive letdown to score 20 points, including three from beyond the arc. USU opens its regular season at 6:05 p.m. Friday against the Fort Lewis
Skyhawks in the Spectrum. Former Aggie Guard Kevin Williams is playing
for the Skyhawks. After the men's game, the Aggie women will play their
first game since 1987, in their season-opener against Southern Utah. |
||