Wilkinson, Wesley pace Aggies over Santa Barbara

LOGAN — Following Utah State's three-point loss to San Jose State last week, Gary Wilkinson and Tai Wesley were the lightning rods for coach Stew Morrill's ire.

The veteran coach blasted the duo for their lack of production and stupidity.

Wilkinson had just three points, and Wesley was ejected two minutes into the game for throwing an elbow.

Morrill's message must have hit home.

Wesley, in particular, used his excess energy to his advantage Friday night against UC Santa Barbara, as he scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Wilkinson recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds in leading the Aggies to a 72-59 BracketBuster victory, snapping a three-game losing streak.

"Both of us kind of missed the bus (last week at San Jose) and Tai even more so. I was out there but not really out there during that game," Wilkinson said.

"I think we both came in with the mindset that we have to prove ourselves once again and establish ourselves as physical posts, something that Utah State is used to."

Wesley and Wilkinson both had just six points at the half but combined for 26 points in the final 20 minutes as Utah State pulled away from its former Big West Conference foe.

"We didn't do a good job on Wesley," UCSB coach Bob Williams said. "I think he came back from last game with a vengeance. He was just a little too strong and a little too physical (for us)."

The Aggies led by four points at the break and increased the lead to 10 points on two different occasions before the Gauchos (20-7) made a run to cut the lead to three, 51-48, with 6:16 left in the contest.

At that juncture, Wesley and Wilkinson combined to score 12 points in the Aggies' ensuing 14-2 run to essentially put the game away.

"With 10 minutes left, I think they got a little tired and we just kept battling," Morrill said. "Every timeout we talked about staying physical and not giving in to fatigue."

At that point, the Aggies scored on 10 of their next 11 possessions to put the game out of reach. It helped that they held the Gauchos scoreless for nearly four minutes during that stretch.

With the lead at three, Wesley scored four points on one possession and the Aggie lead was seven. Wilkinson converted a bucket, and Jaycee Carroll, who finished with 15 points, hit two free throws to increase the lead to 11. Wesley scored four straight points, and Wilkinson added another basket to increase the lead to 15.