Utah State basketball: Aggies romp past Bulldogs, reach WAC tournament title game

RENO — It was going to take an almost perfect game for the injury-riddled Louisiana Tech Bulldogs to beat Utah State.

When star center Magnum Rolle crumbled to the ground clutching his left ankle just three minutes into the game, that miracle became an impossible dream.

USU, smelling blood as soon as Rolle stepped on someone's foot and rolled his ankle, stepped on the accelerator and blew away the Bulldogs — not stopping until the Aggies had an 85-55 win — and moved into the Western Athletic Conference championship game.

"Louisiana Tech was not themselves," Aggie coach Stew Morrill said. "They were not anywhere close to full strength. ... That being said, I was glad to see the guys come out and keep playing."

The win was Utah State's 17th in a row and boosts their record to 27-6 with only tonight's title tilt against the Nevada-New Mexico State winner standing in the way of a second straight WAC tourney championship.

USU's blowout win, combined with another round of losses by other bubble teams around the country, virtually assures the Aggies will be invited to next week's NCAA Tournament, regardless of the outcome of tonight's game.

"Yes," Morrill said. "I can't imagine (not being invited). But I've seen strange things happen."

And that is why the blowout win — even if it came in part because of injuries to LaTech's two best players — was so valuable to the Aggies.

No Utah State player saw more than 31 minutes on the court. Jared Quayle, who has logged the most minutes by far for the Aggies all season, got a load of rest, seeing just 23 minutes of playing time, as Morrill was able to dig deeply into his bench.

Backup point guard Jaxon Myaer got 17 minutes and made sure they were valuable. The sophomore from Judge Memorial hit 2-of-3 shots and scored nine points.

But he was not the only player Utah State had come up big off the bench.

Brady Jardine had a stellar night. The sophomore scored 13 points on 5 of 5 shooting.

All told, Utah State got 83 minutes and 35 points from its bench.

And with a third game in three days on tap, Morrill was thrilled with the chance he had to rest some legs.

"In a three-game event," Morrill said, "hopefully that helps you a little bit."

Friday night, the only help USU needed came when Rolle left the court and did not return. After scoring 31 points the night before, Rolle was a serious offensive and defensive key to the Bulldogs' title hopes. When he went down — and with leading scorer Kyle Gibson limping around with his own serious ankle sprain — LaTech didn't have the horsepower to compete with Utah State.