Utah State basketball: Aggies overwhelm Long Beach State 81-53

LOGAN — It was the breakout offensive game the Utah State Aggies wanted and needed after struggling on their recent road trip.

Utah State (6-2) thumped the Long Beach State 49ers (5-5) 81-53 behind a career-high 19 points from Pooh Williams to lead all scorers.

"I was just trying to be aggressive," Williams said. "Coach has been on me about being aggressive and taking good and smart shots. The zone they were playing left me open a few times and it got me going."

The 81 points scored is a season high for the Aggies, who have struggled offensively recently.

"It's nice to get back out here so soon after a tough outing in the second half at Georgetown," head coach Stew Morrill said. "That was positive. We had a good workout yesterday. We practiced well and played really well defensively. Second half offensively we were a lot better."

The Aggies shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half, and quickly put the game out of reach for the 49ers.

Long Beach State spent most of the game without its head coach, Dan Monson, who was ejected after receiving two technical fouls in quick succession following Williams' dunk just over four minutes into the game.

"I thought that one of their players was taunting our bench several times in a row," Monson said after the game when asked about his ejection.

The player in question appeared to have been Aggie point guard Brockeith Pane, who was quickly pulled from the game and received an earful from the coaches.

"(Monson) thought that (Pane) yelled at the bench and we can't have that," Morrill said. "I don't know for sure what happened, I didn't see what happened. Obviously that will not be tolerated if it did happen. You'll find yourself next to me for quite a while if that happens. You have got to play the game with class."

Pane played just 16 minutes in the game, in part due to the controversy. But even without the starter on the floor, the Aggies' offense flourished. Brian Green had 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting after struggling with his shot on the road trip. Tai Wesley quietly had his best game of the season, scoring 16 points and adding 14 rebounds while staying away from foul trouble. Later in the game, USU point guard James Walker came in and showed off his talent, quickly scoring seven points and dishing two assists.