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Ruston La. • Utah State was outrebounded for the third consecutive game.
The Aggies hit two 3-pointers, while surrendering five times as many. USU had more turnovers than assists, and its best offensive big man, Morgan Grim, missed most of the second half with a foot problem, hobbling when he did play.
But there's no quantifying toughness. The Aggies didn't have it in a blowout loss on Thursday to New Mexico State. They had it on Saturday night in a 69-65 win over Louisiana Tech at Thomas Assembly Center.
Simply put, the Aggies gutted out a win over the Bulldogs. USU coach Stew Morrill played every available body. He went big, he went small, he did everything in his coaching power to point his reeling team to a big victory.
"We'll take it," Morrill said. "It was a win we had to have. We kind of pulled everything out in the arsenal. It's amazing how much better you feel after a win."
In doing so, Utah State had to fight back from an early 12-point deficit. The Aggies had to deal with Kyisean Reed getting into foul trouble, and eventually fouling out. And USU came up short in almost every major area of the stat sheet as well.
Brockeith Pane, however, took over offensively. The senior point guard scored a season-high 24 points in 35 minutes, consistently getting to the basket and scoring in the paint. When he didn't get all the way to the hoop, he pulled up from mid-range and scored from there.
Reed and sophomore shooting guard Preston Medlin each scored 11 points. Besides that, however, offense was pretty slim from the majority of their teammates.
"It was one of those games where I felt that I needed to be a little more aggressive," Pane said. "Everybody plays Preston differently. Tonight, they were denying him the ball, so I had to shoot a little bit more than I normally do."
Against the Bulldogs, Utah State received contributions from people who don't normally make an impact.
Junior big man Igor Premasunac, usually the last man off the bench, came in and scored his first points of the season, a big jumper from the wing that halted a Louisiana Tech run. E.J. Farris, usually the backup point guard, played some at small forward. Mitch Bruneel, normally a small forward, played a lot at power forward, and put the Aggies ahead for good 53-51 with a 3-pointer at the top of the key.
"We were in a position where we absolutely had to play everyone," Morrill said. "I mean, Igor is on the scout team in practice. He doesn't even really know the offense because he doesn't practice with the regulars."
Utah State trailed 31-29 at halftime. But the Aggies went on a 12-0 run to start the second 20 minutes. Louisiana Tech got right back into it with a 10-0 run of its own. But a 15-4 run late supplied USU with a 65-55 advantage, its biggest of the game. From there, the Aggies survived a furious rally.
"It was a great thing that we were able to build a cushion," Morrill said. "They were so quick and they were athletic and could really shoot it."
Twitter: @tonyaggieville
USU 69, La. Tech 65
R Brockeith Pane scores a season-high 24 points for Utah State.
• After trailing at halftime, the Aggies begin the second half on a 12-0 run.
• USU halts a two-game skid.