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Moraga Calif. • Brady Jardine stood on the bench with his arms raised.

Brockeith Pane cradled the basketball at halfcourt with his left hand while shaking his right fist.

Stew Morrill accepted hugs and pats on the back from his assistant coaches.

For one night, Saturday night, Utah State silenced its critics, the ones who looked at the Aggies' strength of schedule and scoffed. Morrill called No. 25 USU's 75-65 win over Saint Mary's at the McKeon Pavilion one of the most satisfying of his career. Certainly, it was the biggest victory for the Aggies this season.

"There's been so much talk about people saying that we couldn't win the big games," Jardine said. "For us to go on the road and beat a good top-25 team at their place is a great feeling. We heard what people said, and frankly, we didn't care. We just wanted to prove to ourselves that we could get a big win, and that's what we did."

In what was the premier matchup in the BracketBusters field, Utah State outscored the Gaels 48-29 in the second half, allowing the Aggies to erase a 10-point deficit with 18 minutes remaining.

Pane and Tai Wesley each scored 22. Wesley grabbed 11 rebounds, handed out two assists and blocked two shots, and he scored 17 of his points in the final 20 minutes.

Pane, who turned the ball over six times in the first half, dominated from the perimeter, making big shots, driving to the basket at will and getting to the free-throw line 14 times.

Jardine scored six points, but his poster dunk over Gaels big man Mitchell Young and subsequent free throw with two minutes remaining gave the Aggies a 68-59 lead and halted a final Saint Mary's run.

"I wasn't mentally in the game in the first half," Pane said. "But I knew that I could beat my man whenever I wanted, so it was just about executing plays."

As a result, the Aggies accomplished more than a few things. Utah State halted the Gaels' 19-game home court winning streak. The Aggies beat Saint Mary's for the first time in three years. Utah State won its first game against an opponent ranked in the RPI's top 100 and moved to 25-3 on the season.

Maybe even bigger, USU has to be considered a strong contender for an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament if it should stumble in the Western Athletic Conference tournament next month.

"It's a big win, but we just have to keep playing," Wesley said.

The Aggies took control with a 19-2 run early in the second half. In the first 20 minutes, they trailed by as much as 34-22 and were lucky to be down by just nine points at intermission. Nate Bendall's layup with 13 minutes remaining gave USU a 42-41 lead it would never relinquish. From there, the Aggies shut the Gaels down and enjoyed one of their best shooting halves of the season.

"We knew that we weren't playing in the first half," Morrill said. "We weren't playing basketball. We were tight, and we just kind of threw caution to the wind and played basketball."

tjones@sltrib.comTwitter: @tonyaggieville —

In short

R Ags outscore Saint Mary's 48-29 in the second half to pick up their first win of the season vs. a top-100 RPI team.