| WAC
hype doesn't disappoint as Aggies escape pesky Vandals,
70-61
By Craig Morris
January 6, 2008 | In defense of last season's conference
championship, Utah State followed up last week's sweep
at the Duel in the Desert with a victory over the University
of Idaho in the Spectrum Monday night.
Last week's WAC Player of the Week, Jared Quayle, led
all scorers with 18 points. He also added six rebounds
and five assists.
The Ags shot a blazing 73.7 percent from the field
in the first half, but cooled off as the game went on.
They built a lead of as many as 16 in the first half,
but led by only six at the break, 40-34.
It was a game of runs as the visiting Vandals, led
by Kashif Watson's 15 points, refused to go away. Using
a half-court trap for much of the game, Idaho had 12
steals and forced 17 turnovers all together.
It was a fast-paced game, and the Vandals were able
to get the Aggies out of their offensive sets.
"It had to be done on the defensive end and on
the boards," said Gary Wilkinson, who pulled down
10 boards of his own on his way to a quiet double-double
(17 points).
USU Coach Stew Morrill said, "I thought Idaho
did a really good job of making it a little bit of a
struggle with their changing all their defenses and
running and doubling us and taking us out of our offense."
The 9,138 fans in attendance rang in the New Year
and sent the Vandals out with ringing in their ears
as the Aggies extended their home win-streak to 28.
The crowd was deafening the entire game, but it went
up a few decibels as an alley-oop from Tai Wesley to
Pooh Williams brought chants of "You got Pooh-ed
on! You got Pooh-ed on!" that could be heard outside.
The Ags will take their unbeaten conference record
on the road to play at Louisiana Tech and New Mexico
State before returning home Jan. 15 to host the Bulldogs
of Fresno State.
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