March 7, 2009

Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery

LOGAN, Utah - All five Utah State starters posted double-digits to lead the Aggies to an 89-77 win against San Jose State on USU's "Senior Night," honoring its lone senior, Gary Wilkinson, Saturday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

The Aggies, who were presented their regular-season Western Athletic Conference trophy following the game, concluded regular-season play with a 14-2 WAC mark and a 27-4 overall ledger. USU won its 34th-straight home game, the second-longest in the country behind the 41 in a row by Kansas.

Utah State also logged back-to-back undefeated home seasons for the first time in school history, going 17-0 on its home court both this season and last year, as the Aggies have their fifth undefeated home ledger in the program's modern era. USU also improved to 41-11 on Senior Night dating back to the 1957-58 season and has won 15 of its last 16 such games overall.

San Jose State lost its second in a row to fall to 13-16 overall and 6-10 in WAC play.

Saturday was the Aggies' 18th-straight win over the Spartans on their home court, winning 24 of the last 27 meetings and now have them doubled up at 42-21 in the all-time series history, the eighth-longest rivalry in school history.

USU will be the top seed for the WAC Tournament, which opens Tuesday, March 10 at Reno, Nev., while SJSU will be either the No. 6 or 7 seed, depending on the outcome of the New Mexico State-Hawai'i game late Saturday night.

Junior guard Jared Quayle matched his jersey number by netting a game-high 21 points, leading the five Aggies in double-figures, marking the third time this season that USU has done so, as all three have been at home, vs. New Mexico State on Feb. 5 and against Weber State on Nov. 25.

Sophomore guard Pooh Williams tallied a career-high 17 points, hitting three three-pointers in the first half, as he was single-handedly out-scoring SJSU at one point of the first half. He matched his previous career-high of 13 points by halftime. Williams also tied his career-best by dishing out six assists.

Wilkinson led a trio of Aggies with 13 points, as he was joined by the sophomore duo of forward Tai Wesley and guard Tyler Newbold. Wilkinson also pulled down five rebounds, one behind Quayle and freshman forward Brady Jardine's team-leading six boards apiece, as USU had a slight 31-29 rebounding edge. Newbold and Quayle distributed six and five assists, respectively.

San Jose State had four players in double-figures, paced by Adrian Oliver's 20 points, while Robert Owens netted 18 points off the bench. Chris Oakes logged a double-double with 13 points and a game-best 11 rebounds while DaShawn Wright tossed in 10 points.

Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field, with USU hitting 51.7 percent (31-of-60) while SJSU shot slightly better at 52.7 percent (29-of-55). The Aggies hit 47.8 percent (11-of-23) of its three-pointers, including nine in the first half, while the Spartans made 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) behind the arc. USU is now 4-4 when the opposition has a better field goal percentage but improving to 17-2 when the Aggies shoot a better percentage from three-point land.

Utah State was 16-of-21 (76.2 percent) at the free throw line while San Jose State was 14-of-18 (77.8 percent) at the free pitch stripe.

The Aggies erupted out of the gates on an 18-4 terror, hitting seven of their first eight shots, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. At the 12:53 mark, Williams made the score 21-5 by hitting a trey from the left wing for his 10th point, single-handedly doubling-up SJSU. USU's lead grew to 20 at 27-7 on a three-point play by Wilkinson with 9:14 on the first half clock.

Williams hit another triple from the right wing in the waning seconds of the opening stanza, giving USU a 43-27 halftime lead.

After the Aggies extended their lead to 18 at 55-37 on a three-point play by Quayle, the Spartans went on a 10-2 run, capped by back-to-back buckets by Oliver to close to 56-47 with 14:15 to go. SJSU trimmed the gap to five at 65-60 with 8:40 left but a Jardine tip-in and a Wilkinson dunk put USU ahead 69-60. However, the Spartans refused to go away, trailing by four on two different occasions, the last at 75-71 with 4:40 to go after three free throws by Oliver.

Quayle made sure SJSU wouldn't get any closer as he netted 10 of USU's next 12 points, hitting a pair of three-pointers to give the Aggies an 87-73 lead with 1:35 to play and they coasted to the win.

USU will play the winner of Tuesday's 8-9 play-in game in the WAC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. (MT).

Fans can follow the WAC Tournament on the Internet through wac.tv.

Utah State basketball games are broadcast on KVNU (610 AM) and KLZX (95.9 FM) in Logan, Utah, KFAN (1320 AM) or ESPN Radio (1230 AM) in Salt Lake City and KLZX (105.3 FM) in Montpelier, Idaho, as well as on the internet at www.UtahStateAggies.com. Al Lewis serves as the play-by-play announcer, while Rod Tueller serves as the analyst during home games.