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Normal, Ill. • Apparently, Utah State is a second-half team.
Down by seven at halftime Sunday at Illinois State, the young Aggies rallied for a 60-55 victory at Redbird Arena.
The impressive win came 44 hours after Utah State opened the season by beating Weber State, 72-61. In that game, the Aggies trailed by 18 at the half.
Against the Redbirds, redshirt freshman David Collette scored 17 points to lead Utah State. He also had a key blocked shot in the final seconds.
Junior college transfer Chris Perkins added 14 points for the Aggies, including a tiebreaking 3 with two minutes remaining.
Sophomore forward Jalen Moore contributed eight points and a career-high nine rebounds.
Utah State was outplayed in the first half, which ended with Illinois State owning a 27-20 lead.
The Aggies started rolling in the second half and JoJo McGlaston gave them their first lead, 41-40, on a three-pointer with 10:57 remaining. Just over two minutes later, Perkins' 3-pointer gave Utah State a 48-40 lead.
Illinois State fought back, however, and grabbed a 53-50 lead before McGlaston hit another clutch three-pointer with 2:57 left. Then, Perkins beat the shot clock with another 3-pointer that gave Utah State a 56-53 lead.
It was a one-point game with 20 seconds remaining when Perkins made the front end of one-and-one free throws. Collette followed with his huge block and Moore made a free throw with 6.9 seconds to play.
At that point, Utah State decided to foul rather than risk Illinois State making a tying 3-pointer. The strategy paid off when the Redbirds missed two foul shots. Collette's two free throws iced the victory. —
Utah State 60, Illinois State 55
R David Collette scores 17 points to lead Utah State to a 60-55 victory at Illinois State.
• The Aggies overcome a 27-20 halftime deficit and improve to 2-0 this season.