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Logan • In their first test after finals week, Utah State passed.

Freshman Koby McEwen scored 19 points and senior Jalen Moore added 18 on Monday night, leading the Aggies to a 76-66 win over New Orleans.

Playing for the first time in nine days, Utah State owned a tenuous 57-54 lead with five minutes remaining before McEwen and Moore combined for 15 of its last 19 points.

The Aggies, who won their third straight game, improved their record to 6-4 heading into Wednesday night's game at the Spectrum against Weber State.

"We had to grind it out a little bit," said McEwen, who also contributed seven rebounds and four assists against the Privateers. "… They are a real physical team [and] we had to match their physicality."

After a back-and-forth first half, when neither team led by more than four points, Utah State used an 8-1 run to build a 48-39 lead with 14:20 remaining.

The Aggies converted only one of their next 10 possessions, however, and New Orleans rallied.

It was 50-49 with 8:20 left when Moore got the ball on the wing and handed out one of his five assists. First, he looked inside for center Norbert Janicek. But with him covered, Moore made a perfect cross-court pass to Sam Merrill. The freshman guard buried a corner three, halting the Privateers' momentum.

"We were running a post play for Norby but I saw he was [being] fronted," Moore said. "When I saw Sam's guy come into the lane, I skipped it to him."

Moore had a good idea what was going to happen.

"Sam knocks them down when he's wide open," he said. "He was able to cash that one in and it was huge for us. That sort of fueled our fire. Really, I don' think we were in trouble after that."

Said coach Tim Duryea: "Big shot by Sam and great find by Jalen. With his size, he sees over the defense. … That was probably the shot of the game because they had it going."

Merrill finished with nine points in 18 minutes.

"Sam is productive," Duryea said. "We've just got to get him to quit fouling. … He's getting most of his fouls with his hands out on the floor. We've got to get him away from that."

Utah State owned a three-point lead with 4:11 remaining when Moore scored eight straight points, including an acrobatic bank shot off a drive that began a clinching 7-0 run.

"I was just trying to be aggressive, trying to help the team win," he said. "That's what you are supposed to do — someone who has been here for four years."

Email: luhm@sltrib.com Twitter: @sluhm —

Storylines

R Koby McEwen scores 19 points and Jalen Moore adds 18 to lead Utah State past New Orleans, 76-66.

• The Aggies (6-4) shoot 63 percent in the second half and win their third straight.

• Senior forward Erik Thomas scores a game-high 21 points for New Orleans (4-6).

Utah State 76, New Orleans 66

NEW ORLEANS (4-6)

Thibodeaux 2-6 1-2 5, Thomas 8-15 5-8 21, Puou 4-6 2-2 10, Gill 5-13 2-3 12, Broyles 1-8 2-4 5, Cheeseman 0-0 0-0 0, Jiles 0-0 0-0 0, Rosa 0-0 0-0 0, Reed 0-3 0-0 0, Frye 1-3 4-4 7, Zeno 3-5 0-1 6. Totals 24-59 16-24 66.

UTAH ST. (6-4)

Dargenton 0-4 1-2 1, Janicek 3-3 1-2 7, Moore 5-8 6-7 18, McEwen 4-12 9-11 19, Rector 4-5 4-5 13, Barnaba 1-4 0-0 2, Taylor 2-2 1-2 5, Pearre 1-4 0-0 2, Merrill 4-6 0-0 9. Totals 24-48 22-29 76.

Halftime—Utah St. 33-31. 3-Point Goals—New Orleans 2-12 (Frye 1-1, Broyles 1-3, Reed 0-2, Gill 0-6), Utah St. 6-18 (Moore 2-2, McEwen 2-7, Rector 1-2, Merrill 1-2, Dargenton 0-1, Barnaba 0-1, Pearre 0-3). Fouled Out—Thibodeaux. Rebounds—New Orleans 30 (Thibodeaux, Thomas 9), Utah St. 34 (McEwen 7). Assists—New Orleans 15 (Frye 5), Utah St. 14 (Moore 5). Total Fouls—New Orleans 23, Utah St. 21. A—5,825 (10,270).