Box Score | Notes

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Junior guard Shane Rector scored a season-high 24 points to lead a quartet of double-digit Aggie scorers In Utah State's 88-70 opening round Mountain West Championship win against Wyoming here Wednesday afternoon at the Thomas and Mack Center of the UNLV campus.

Utah State improves to 16-14 on the year with the win, while Wyoming ends its season with a 14-18 record. USU also improved to 40-29 all-time in conference tournaments, including a 2-2 record in the Mountain West.

As for head coach Tim Duryea, he becomes the first coach in school history to win his first-ever conference tournament game and the first Aggie coach to win his first postseason game since 1962 when Ladell Andersen led USU to a NCAA Tournament opening round win against Arizona State.

Rector, whose previous scoring high was 16 points against Nevada, was 7-of-15 from the field, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 7-of-8 at the free throw line. He also had a season-best six rebounds and played a season-high 35 minutes in just his 11th start of the season, including his first in 11 games.

For Rector, those 24 points are the most by an Aggie in conference tournament play since the 2010 Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game when Jared Quayle scored 25 points against New Mexico State. It is also the most points scored by a USU player in the postseason since Preston Medlin had 26 points against Oakland in the semifinals of the 2012 College Invitational Tournament.

Senior guard Chris Smith added 20 points for Utah State as he was 7-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-6 from behind the 3-point line, and 2-of-2 at the free throw line. Junior wing Jalen Moore added 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists as he was 7-of-15 from the field, and sophomore guard Julion Pearre came off the bench to score 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

Jason McManamen led Wyoming with 23 points, while Josh Adams scored 18 and Alan Herndon finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Utah State finished the game shooting 48.4 percent (31-of-64) from the field, including 44.0 percent (11-of-25) from behind the 3-point line, and 83.3 percent (15-of-18) at the free throw line. Wyoming shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) overall, as those 19 made field goals are tied for the fewest by an Aggie opponent this season. UW was also 5-of-28 (.179) shooting from 3-point range, which is a season-low shooting percentage for an Aggie opponent, but made 27-of-34 (.794) free throws, both of which are season-highs by an Aggie opponent.

Utah State opened the game on an 8-0 run and made 13 of its first 17 field goals as it opened a 31-11 advantage just 10:03 into the game. USU extended its advantage to 25 points on a 3-pointer by Smith to make the score 41-16 with 6:52 to play in the half. Wyoming then finished the half by outscoring the Aggies 14-6 to pull within 47-30 at intermission.

In the first-half, Utah State shot a blistering 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from the field and 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from 3-point range, while holding Wyoming to just 32.0 percent (8-of-25) shooting.

Utah State began the second-half by scoring five of the first seven points to push its lead back to 20 at 52-32 following a Smith dunk and led by 19 at 55-36 with 17:22 remaining following a Rector trey, before Wyoming went on an 11-0 run over the next 2:45 to get within single digits at 55-47. The Cowboys eventually got as close as seven points at 63-56 with 9:46 to play, but USU closed the game on a 12-3 run over the final 2:09 to turn a 76-67 advantage into an 88-70 win.

Utah State will now advance to the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Championships and face top-seeded San Diego State (23-8) on Thursday, March 10 at Noon (PT).

-USU-