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Logan • Junior college transfer Darius Perkins is getting more comfortable as Utah State's No. 1 point guard.
It showed Saturday.
Perkins finished with 11 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in 33 minutes during the Aggies' 71-59 victory over Air Force at the Spectrum.
Perkins cooly directed Utah State's offense against the switching, trapping Falcon defense and helped the Aggies shoot a season-high 54.2 percent.
Utah State went 13 for 23 from the 3-point line — matching the school's second-highest single-game total.
Asked about Perkins' play, coach Stew Morrill said, "Ten assists is awesome. That's maybe his best night."
Perkins credited encouragement from Morrill and assistants for his improvement as the Aggies' quarterback.
"I stopped thinking too much," he said. "The coaches told me to go out and just be me — just play, and whatever happens happens. Hopefully it's good."
It was good against the Falcons, who trailed early after Julion Pearre, Chris Smith and Perkins opened the game with 3-pointers.
"We needed to bounce back from New Mexico and get this one," Perkins said, referring to last week's 66-60 loss to the Lobos.
He said a quick start against Air Force "was our whole focus. … Basically we were just hitting shots — driving and kicking."
One of Perkins' assists came on Smith's buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave the Aggies a 31-21 halftime lead.
"That play was designed to get a quick post look," Perkins said. "But those guys came and trapped me, so I just threw it to Chris. He got the shot up, and it went in, so I'll take it."
After his 900th game as a college head coach, Morrill sounded pleased with the progress of Perkins and other young players like JoJo McGlaston, Pearre and Smith.
But he expects more.
"I think a lot of these guys will be better the second half of the year than they were in the first half," Morrill said. "It's all new to them. These guys haven't played the Air Force Academy. We told them what it would be like, but gaining experience" is important.
Twitter: @sluhm —
Darius Perkins' past five games:
Opponent Min. FG 3s FT Reb. Ast. Pt.
Air Force 33 4-8 3-6 0-0 5 10 11
New Mexico 32 3-7 1-4 0-3 2 3 7
Fresno State 27 1-7 0-3 1-3 1 2 3
Boise State 32 5-12 2-4 0-0 3 4 12
San Jose State 26 1-5 1-4 2-3 3 4 5