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Logan • Desperately needing a dose of success, Utah State found the remedy for its recent woes Tuesday night against Air Force.
In front of 9,243 fans at the Spectrum, Jalen Moore scored 20 points, Chris Smith contributed 19 and Shane Rector added 13 as the Aggies snapped a three-game losing streak by thumping the Falcons, 79-60.
Coming off consecutive losses to Mountain West Conference contenders San Diego State, Boise State and New Mexico, Utah State dominated Air Force despite missing starter Lew Evans.
The Aggies' No. 3 scorer and leading rebounder, Evans was sidelined because of concussion symptoms. His availability for Saturday's game at Colorado State will be determined later this week.
Even without Evans, however, USU rode the play of Moore, Smith and Rector to their 13th win in 16 games in the all-time series against Air Force.
"We came out with a different mindset tonight," Rector said. "We executed. We shared the ball. We got a lot of good shots. … We came out determined to get a win — to get this thing rolling again."
Said coach Tim Duryea: "That was our best sustained effort in awhile — and even better defensively than offensively. … They make you grind it out every defensive possession and I thought our guys did a good job in that area."
Air Force shot only 36.8 percent from the field. Leading scorer Trevor Lyons finished with two points. He was 0-for-9 from the field.
"I thought the key to the game was the defense by our point guards," Duryea said, referring to Darius Perkins and Rector. "When you hold Trevor Lyons without a field goal, that says a lot."
Air Force owned a 24-19 lead with 6:35 left in the first half, when a 3-pointer by Perkins ignited Utah State. Smith followed with back-to-back drives and Moore added two free throws. Smith followed with a steal and another layup, pushing the Aggies' lead to 32-24 after an 11-0 run.
It was 34-28 with 28 seconds left when Rector restored Utah State's eight-point lead. Inbounding underneath the Air Force basket, Rector bounced the ball off a defender, who had his back turned to him. Rector picked up it and scored to give Utah State a 36-28 halftime lead.
"I had a couple of whacky plays in this game," he said. "… I actually thought there was only one second left on the [shot] clock. I thought if I threw it in, we wouldn't get a shot."
Smiling, Duryea said, "That's one of those plays that, when it works, you clap and when it doesn't work, it's a bad deal."
During its three-game losing streak, Utah State had trouble in the opening moments of the second half. But that wasn't a problem against the Falcons.
Moore dunked on the Aggies' first possession. After a free throw by Air Force's Zach Moer, Smith turned a post-up on the right block into a three-point play. Moore followed with a 3-pointer to finish a quick 8-1 burst that gave Utah State a 44-29 lead with 18 minutes remaining.
"We shared the ball," Rector said. "And when you share the ball, good things happen."
Said Duryea: "… The ball kept changing sides of the floor. Because of that, we didn't have those three- or four- or-five minute lulls offensively that we've been having."
Twitter: @sluhm —
Storylines
R Jalen Moore scores 20 points, leading Utah State to a 79-60 win over Air Force.
• Chris Smith adds 19 points for the Aggies, who snap a three-game losing streak.
• Utah State bumps its record to 10-6 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain West Conference.
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Utah State 79, Air Force 60
AIR FORCE (10-7)
Kocur 4-12 0-0 11, Lyons 0-9 2-5 2, Broekhuis 2-2 0-0 5, Graham 4-11 0-0 8, Moer 5-11 1-2 12, Norman 0-0 0-0 0, Siples 1-2 3-4 5, Hummer 0-0 0-0 0, Tuss 1-3 2-4 5, Van 0-0 2-2 2, Louder 4-6 0-0 10, James 0-1 0-0 0, Toohey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 10-17 60.
UTAH ST. (10-6)
Perkins 1-8 0-0 3, J. Moore 7-12 4-4 20, Taylor 1-2 2-2 4, G. Moore 0-5 1-2 1, Smith 6-10 5-7 19, Cureton 0-2 0-0 0, Rector 5-8 3-3 13, Pearre 4-7 2-2 12, Jones 2-2 3-4 7. Totals 26-56 20-24 79.
Halftime—Utah St. 36-28. 3-Point Goals—Air Force 8-20 (Kocur 3-7, Louder 2-2, Broekhuis 1-1, Tuss 1-2, Moer 1-2, Siples 0-1, Lyons 0-2, Graham 0-3), Utah St. 7-26 (Pearre 2-4, Smith 2-4, J. Moore 2-5, Perkins 1-6, Rector 0-2, Cureton 0-2, G. Moore 0-3). Fouled Out—Kocur. Rebounds—Air Force 32 (Kocur 8), Utah St. 41 (G. Moore 9). Assists—Air Force 14 (Graham 5), Utah St. 15 (J. Moore 6). Total Fouls—Air Force 19, Utah St. 15. A—9,243.