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Fresno • Utah State had a chance to retain a share of the early-season lead in the Mountain West Conference late Wednesday night.

The Aggies couldn't quite pull it off.

Marvelle Harris poured in 18 points and Fresno State used a blistering start as the Bulldogs scored a 61-52 victory over Utah State at the Save Mart Center.

Combined with Wyoming's 60-54 win at Colorado State, the loss prevented the Aggies from remaining tied with the Cowboys for first place in the Mountain West.

Wyoming is 3-0 in league play while Utah State slipped to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

Utah State plays New Mexico (10-5, 2-1) on Saturday. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at the Spectrum.

Going into the game against Fresno State, the Aggies had used outstanding defense to win six of their previous seven games. During that stretch, opponents averaged only 54.8 points against them.

Fresno State came out firing, however.

The Bulldogs made 14 of their first 18 field-goal attempts and used a 16-4 run midway through the first half to build a 31-20 lead.

"They are a very athletic bunch," Utah State coach Stew Morrill told the Logan Herald Journal. "We had a really hard time guarding them off the dribble. We had to help and then they dropped it off to their bigs for layups."

Fresno took a 35-26 lead at intermission and owned an 11-point advantage early in the second half.

Utah State got back in the game, however, when sophomore forward Jalen Moore scored seven of his team-high 17 points during a 13-2 run.

Moore's basket with 15:35 left made it 39-39. The Aggies still trailed by only one, 44-43, with 12 minutes remaining. But they managed only two free throws from their next eight possessions and Fresno State regained control.

"We battled back ... and gave ourselves a chance in the game," Morrill said. "We just couldn't quite get over the hump — couldn't quite make enough shots, couldn't quite get enough stops, couldn't quite get enough rebounds."

Fresno State ended up shooting 57.7 percent — only the second time in 15 games the Bulldogs made over half their shots. They also shot better than 50 percent in wins over Bristol University and St. Katherine.

Moore led Utah State by reaching double figures for the 13th straight game. David Collette added 16 for the Aggies, who went only 5-for-13 from the free-throw line and were out-rebounded, 39-27. —

Storylines

• Marvelle Harris scores 18 points and Fresno State uses a blistering start to defeat Utah State.

• The Bulldogs make 15 of their first 19 shots and hand the Aggies their first Mountain West Conference loss.