Utah State football: Brockeith Pane proves that Aggies have found point guard

LOGAN — If Utah State had a concern coming into this men's basketball season, it was who was going to replace all-WAC point guard Jared Quayle.

In the Aggies' opener against Weber State on Saturday night, Brockeith Pane emphatically answered that question. Pane, a junior college transfer from Midland, Texas, finished with 23 points. It was the most points scored by an Aggie in his first game since Jay Goodman scored 33 at BYU on Nov. 24, 1990.

"He had a great night," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said about Pane. "I told the Utah State coaches when they signed him that he was going to bring something to their team that they haven't had in several years — an athletic guard who can score the ball and get them easy baskets.

"He was very difficult for us to guard tonight; he will create easy baskets for them for the rest of the year."

Pane, like the rest of the Utah State squad, started out slowly. Going into the half, he only had six points and made a few questionable decisions that drew the ire of USU coach Stew Morrill.

"Coach Morrill asked us to pick it up at halftime, so I really tried to pick it up." Pane said of his rocky start. "The slow start was just jitters."

Whatever jitters Pane had were left in the locker room at halftime. He scored 17 in the second half, and his ability to push the tempo was the key to a 17-point run the Aggies made to break the game open.

"We wanted him to be really aggressive on the break because we were struggling in the half court," Morrill said. "When you have a guy who is that good in the open court, you have to let him make plays."

Pane's ability to make plays in the open court is what separates him from other point guards Morrill has coached at Utah State. Morrill had to go back to future NBA point guard Milt Palacio, who played for Morrill at Colorado State, to find a guard he has coached with that much ability to drive to the bucket.

"He can get to the rim and finish," Tai Wesley said about Pane. "I really like playing with him."

Aggie fans are hoping the combination of Pane's ability to get to the rim with the returning talent the team has will unlock the full potential of the offense.

"We will be very hard to beat this season if we keep playing like that," Pane said.