Logan » When Utah State defends like it did Wednesday night against BYU, the Aggies are a tough basketball team to beat.
When Jared Quayle is making shots, and Nate Bendall is going for double-doubles, USU becomes nearly impossible to handle. Especially when the Aggies are playing in front of a sellout crowd of 10,270 at the Spectrum.
Those were big factors that came into play in Utah State's 71-61 in-state rivalry victory over the Cougars, a win that extends the Aggies' home winning streak to 37.
Quayle scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, Bendall, a 6-foot-9 junior center, delivered 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the Aggies dominated BYU, handing the Cougars their first loss of the season.
"We got some quality looks at the basket in the second half and that made a difference," USU coach Stew Morrill said. "I thought the game was really, really physical. It was really a defensive battle. We guarded pretty dang hard the whole game, and in the second half we really hunkered down and played some good defense."
The Aggies' defense, led by junior forward Pooh Williams, made life miserable for the two players BYU counts on for most of its points: Jonathan Tavernari and Jimmer Fredette.
Fredette, the All-Mountain West Conference point guard, played well in the first half, shooting his team to a 35-32 halftime advantage.
But Williams harassed him the rest of the way, holding him to 5-for-15 shooting, even though the junior posted a team-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds.Tavernari clearly struggled. The senior forward had four points on 1-for-11 shooting.
To make matters worse, Bendall abused him in the paint at the start of the second half, scoring on hook shots and bullying his way into the paint for easy looks at the hoop.
"He's an unorthodox defensive player," Bendall said. "He likes to go for steals, and I knew that. So if I guarded against that, I knew I could shoot over him."
Working largely without their two best scorers, the Cougars turned to Chris Miles for production and the 6-11 center scored 11 points, but couldn't carry the load. BYU shot 30 percent from the field in the second half.
The game was broken open with 11 minutes remaining when freshman Preston Medlin came through with a three-pointer from the right side to give the Aggies a 51-46 lead.
On the next possession, Quayle came off a pick, found himself wide open and knocked home another long ball.
The eight-point lead had the Spectrum rocking, and BYU never got closer than five points again.
It's the second consecutive game that Medlin has come through with big points off the bench, after not scoring in the first four games of the season.
On Wednesday night, the wispy rookie scored six of his eight points in the second half, with each bucket coming in pressure-packed situations.
"My teammates are setting good picks for me," Medlin said. "I'm just trying to shoot the ball and knock down shots."
Tai Wesley was the third Utah State player to hit double figures, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
IN SHORT » Utah State extends its home court winning streak to 37 games
KEY MOMENT » Consecutive three-pointers from Preston Medlin and Jared Quayle give the Aggies a 54-46 lead.
KEY STAT » Quayle scores 18 of his 22 points in the second half.
In the first half, BYU shot the ball well and ran its offense. It was the second 20 minutes that led to the Cougars' defeat. › D4
