Feb 29, 2004

Final Stats

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) - - Utah State got the test it expected against UC Irvine.

Mark Brown scored 17 points and Spencer Nelson added 14, leading the 24th-ranked Aggies to a 59-56 victory Saturday night in front of 4,210 at Bren Events Center and a rare national television audience.

Utah State's 21st victory in 22 games enabled the Aggies (24-2, 16-1 Big West Conference) to maintain their half-game conference lead over second-place Pacific.

The Aggies needed Brown's offense to make up for an off night by Cardell Butler, who finished with eight points after averaging 21 in his previous four games.

"Cardell's been on fire as of late and they were clueing in on him more," Brown said. "Maybe that created more shots for me. I was being more aggressive than I have been of late."

Utah State's last visit to UC Irvine resulted in a 75-73 overtime loss. Two years ago, the Aggies earned a 62-61 victory. Five of the last six regular-season meetings have been decided by three points or less.

"Utah State-Irvine is sort of a rivalry," Brown said. "It's always a dogfight when we play them. It's always a close game and it's guaranteed to be a good game."

UC Irvine (11-15, 6-10) held a 38-37 lead when Utah State used an 11-2 run to move ahead 48-40 with 7:41 to play.

The Anteaters closed to 55-53 with 1:47 remaining, but Brown made an 8-foot driving jumper and two free throws to extend the Aggies' lead to 59-53 with 48.4 seconds left.

UC Irvine had a chance to force overtime after Ross Schraeder made a 3-pointer with 38.4 seconds to play and Brown missed two free throws with 15.6 seconds left.

But Schraeder missed a 3 at the buzzer, and UC Irvine lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

Schraeder scored 20 points, and teammate Stanislav Zuzak added 12.

Utah State made eight of 13 field-goal attempts and 15 of 20 free throws in the second half in tying the school record for most conference victories in a season.