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The Aggies will be hoping home-court advantage will be worth a nine-point swing, or at least a few more defensive stops, when the Cowboys come to town.

The basketball adage says defensive travels, but Utah State's team defense hasn't accompanied it beyond the walls of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum often this winter. After back-to-back Mountain West Conference road losses, USU (10-13, 4-8 MWC) starts a two-game home swing against the University of Wyoming 16-9, 6-6 MW) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Utah State, which has gone 4-2 at home and 0-6 on the road in conference play, will try to avenge an eight-point loss earlier this season in Wyoming.

"The trend in the away games has been [us] coming out really flat," Aggies sophomore Quinn Taylor said. "You can't come out flat on someone else's court and let them get comfortable. It's going to be hard to work your way back in. At least at home if you come out flat, you've got the fans in it. You can kind of work off that energy."

Taylor, a 6-foot-8 forward, scored a season-high 11 points coming off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds on Tuesday night at Colorado State as the Aggies suffered through their worst shooting night of the season (35.6 percent) in a 69-52 loss. The Aggies were held without a field goal for a seven-minute stretch from the end of the first half to the start of the second half when Colorado State took the game over.

While the Aggies score more at home (76.3 points per game compared to 68.8), the starkest difference comes on the defensive end. Opponents have shot 39.4 percent from the floor (26.8 percent on 3-pointers) in the Spectrum this season, while the Aggies defense have allowed foes to shot 45.5 percent on the road and score an average of 8.1 points per game more.

Wyoming, which made half of its field goal attempts on the way to a 95-point game in the first meeting between the teams, should enter Saturday's game on tired legs after a four-overtime win at home on Wednesday night against Fresno State.

"We came off a not-so-great performance at Colorado State, so everyone is wanting to bounce back," Taylor said. "... They played four overtimes, so hopefully they're a little bit more tired than usual and we can take advantage of that."

While Aggies head coach Tim Duryea could hardly be called "accepting" of the team's home/road disparity, in a candid moment he did relent the struggles may be part of the growing pains for a squad that features four first-year starters — including two freshmen guards.

"Those things probably play a part in it, probably more than I want to admit or acknowledge," Duryea said. "People say all the time, 'You're so young.' I always say, 'That doesn't matter to me. Our performance matters to me.' We're not making excuses for if we start five freshman or five seniors. You've got to perform. We've done a decent job of that at home, and we have not yet defended at the level for 40 minutes that we've needed to defend to win."

Twitter: @LWorthySports —

Wyoming at Utah State

P At Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, Logan

When • 7 p.m. Saturday

Radio • 610 AM, 102.1 FM

Records • Utah State 10-13 (4-8 MWC), Wyoming 16-9 (6-6 MWC)

Series • Wyoming leads 49-26

Last meeting • Wyoming won 95-87 on Jan. 11

About the Aggies • Senior wing Jalen Moore can become the 10th player in program history to score 1,500 points and 600 rebounds. Moore enters Saturday's game 16 points shy of 1,500. Moore leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.9 points per game. … Senior guard Shane Rector's status remains day-to-day with a wrist injury. Rector, who has missed the past two games, is the team's third-leading scorer (9.9 ppg) and has made 36.4 percent of his 3-pointers.

About the Cowboys • Senior guard Jason McManamen is coming off a career-high 30-point performance in the Cowboys' 102-100 quadruple-overtime win against Fresno State on Wednesday. McManamen played 57 minutes in the victory. McManamen has averaged 12.1 points per game this season after averaging 14.4 points per game last season. … The team's top two scorers, 6-foot-7 sophomore wing Justin James and 6-foot-8 junior forward Hayden Dalton, have both come off the bench this season. James has averaged 15.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, while Dalton has averaged 12.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.