This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah State players talked about not letting down against Louisiana Tech on Saturday night. They talked about not looking ahead to the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
Then the Aggies went out and backed it up with their play.
USU smashed the Bulldogs 72-30. That was impressive. More impressive was that the Aggies never let Louisiana Tech think the game would be close, jumping out to a 25-2 lead and not looking back.
"It's important to us that we play every game as it comes," Nate Bendall said. "We know that there aren't a lot of games left in the season, so we have to make every one of those games count."
It speaks to the maturity of Utah State that the Aggies didn't take the Bulldogs lightly. This was the same Louisiana Tech team that struggled all season and didn't qualify for the upcoming WAC tournament.
But USU took care of business and avoided any potential snags as it prepares for Friday's WAC semifinal.
Potential road blocks?
As first matchups go, Utah State has a potentially difficult draw in Las Vegas. The Aggies' three possible opponents are Hawaii, Idaho or San Jose State.
Neither Hawaii nor Idaho would be an easy game. The Warriors pushed Utah State twice in the regular season, almost beating the Aggies at Hawaii before losing in double overtime. And, of course, the Vandals were the only WAC team to defeat Utah State, and did so on national television.
What injury?
Pooh Williams turned an ankle so badly Wednesday against New Mexico State that he had to hobble to the team bus leaning on the shoulder of point guard Brockeith Pane. With the concern that he would miss the Louisiana Tech game, however, Williams not only played, but he started and played exceptionally well.
Obviously, for the Aggies, that represents good news.
Consistency
Stew Morrill has now been named the WAC Coach of the Year three consecutive times. … Freshman point guard James Walker received playing time Saturday for the first time since the Saint Mary's game and made a 3-pointer. … Long Beach State's emergence has given the Aggies a second top-100 RPI win on the season. LBSU now has an RPI of 88.
Twitter: @tonyaggieville