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Logan • Andew Bock scored 18 points to lead three Tigers in double figures as Pacific ran by Utah State 78-68 on Saturday night.
T.J. Wallace added 15 points for Pacific (7-1) and Ross Rivera had 11. USU (5-2) was led by Jarred Shaw with 17 points while Marcel Davis dropped in 13 and Spencer Butterfield had 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
After trailing by 10 early in the second half, USU clawed their way back to 48-47 when Davis finished a strong layup. But behind a 3-point shot by Rivera and free-throw shooting by Wallace, Pacific regained a 58-48 edge.
USU closed to within five points with 6:25 to play but Wallace and Tony Gill dropped in 3-point shots to extend the Tigers to a 71-60 lead, which was never again challenged.
Pacific shot 5-of-11 from the 3-point line, while USU was only 5-of-18. USU had 12 turnovers which led to 15 Tiger points, while Pacific only had four turnovers in the game.
Pacific started strong in the first half, trailing only at 2-0 and taking a 14-7 lead with 11:10 to play when Wallace made a layup. The Tigers would extend the lead to their largest of the half, 33-20, when Bock made a layup with 3:22 to play.
Pacific led 37-29 at halftime, USU closing the gap slightly when Preston Medlin (14.2 points per game) scored his first field goal of the game, a 3-pointer, one minute before intermission. Pacific had 26 points in the paint in the half and shot 53 percent from the field. Working against an aggressive man-to-man Pacific defense, USU had four points in the paint and shot 39 percent in the first half. Medlin was held to nine points in the game.
The Tigers and Aggies were longtime foes in the Big West Conference before each school found new affiliation, USU leading all-time in the series 44-23, including a 28-2 record in Logan before Saturday's loss.