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Logan • For two games, Kyisean Reed was an invisible man, not scoring a point for Utah State in limited minutes, struggling to finish around the rim and questioning his place in Coach Stew Morrill's offense.
On Saturday, in a win over Southern Utah, Reed was USU's most important player.
In a second-half performance that hinted at his enormous potential, Reed scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds. And when Utah State visits Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday night, Reed will become even more important.
He's the man who will replace forward Brady Jardine, who suffered torn ligaments in his foot Saturday and will be unavailable for an extended period of time. While it doesn't look like Jardine will miss the season, he could miss as much as six weeks. That means Reed will need to be what he was against SUU if the Aggies are to have success.
"Kyisean was very good, and that's what we have to have," Coach Morrill said. "We need him in there flying around and making plays."
Jardine is Utah State's best interior player, an athletic specimen who was being projected as a potential all-conference player. Thing is, Reed has many of Jardine's same athletic gifts. He is undersized at 6-foot-6, but his vertical leap and long arms make up for that.
The Aggies come into this game 2-1, but struggled against Southern Utah and have had issues with execution. Without Jardine, USU will be down to four post players.
"We all have to step up with Brady out," Reed said. "He's our leader, so everyone has to chip in."
Twitter: @tonyaggieville —
Utah State at Texas A&M Corpus Christi
P Tipoff • 6:30 p.m. MST
TV • None
Radio • 97.5 FM
Records • TAMCC (0-2), Utah State (2-1)
Series record • First meeting between the schools
About the Aggies • Three USU players (Brockeith Pane, Preston Medlin, Jarred Shaw) are from Texas. … USU is 23-9 all-time against teams from Texas. … The Aggies are 2-1 against teams from the Southland Conference. … USU has had six players score in double figures in a game so far this season.
About the Islanders • Texas A&M-Corpus Christi began the season with a 71-39 loss at Oklahoma State followed by a 65-58 home loss to Denver. … The Islanders, who are members of the Southland Conference, are led by senior forward Chris Hawkins-Mast, who is averaging 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds, and is shooting 44.4 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from 3-point range and 50.0 percent at the free-throw line. … Junior forward Myron Dempsey is also averaging double figures in scoring (10.5) and is averaging 6.0 rebounds per game.