Logan • Stew Morrill, in the days before Utah State’s 77-63 triumph over Louisiana Tech, huddled his point guards, Brockeith Pane and E.J. Farris, and told them in no uncertain terms to stop.
Stop turning the ball over at an alarming rate. Stop looking so much for your individual offense. Stop making plays to hurt the team down the stretch.
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Judging by Thursday night’s result, at the Spectrum, those words were heeded.
The two combined for 16 points and seven assists. But the statistic that stood out was zero turnovers, which led to a smooth-running offense that put up a bundle of points.
"I thought Brockeith had a really good floor game," Morrill said. "I talked with those two and told them that we can’t have so many turnovers from our guards. So I thought having no turnovers was a key thing for us. I thought E.J. was important off the bench in the first half."
The duo was just as important to the win as the scoring of Preston Medlin and Kyisean Reed. Pane picked his spots, was good on penetration and scored when he needed to, a delicate balance that he’s been trying to negotiate for his entire career as an Aggie.
Farris had perhaps his best game of the season, scoring all of his points in the first-half and giving a scoring lift off the bench that hasn’t been there previously for Utah State.
Together, the two handled a difficult, quick and intense Louisiana Tech pressure defense with aplomb. When the Bulldogs were close to forcing turnovers, Pane and Farris were there to calm things down and get the Aggies into an offense.
When there was a fastbreak to be had, the two point guards raced down the court and converted.
For Pane, it was a pleasant change from last week, when he struggled down the stretch against Nevada and turned the ball over at a high rate against Fresno State two nights later.
"They played well, especially Brockeith," Reed said. "It was good to see, because when he plays that way, we’re tough to beat."
Twitter: @tonyaggieville
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