Utah State basketball: Aggies overwhelm Troy to win tourney title

LOGAN — Utah State once again claimed the Gossner Invitational Championship on Thursday night by crushing the Trojans of Troy 80-39 at the Smith Spectrum.

It was the third game in three nights for both teams, and it showed early on. Neither team could hit an open shot and Utah State held just an 8-2 lead after seven minutes had elapsed.

After that point, the Aggies were able to remove the theoretical lid that was on the basket and quickly put the Trojans out of reach. By halftime, the score was 40-13, and it did not even seem that close.

"Obviously, Troy wasn't at their best tonight," head coach Stew Morrill said. "That wasn't the same team that played a few nights ago. Fortunately we came out and guarded them and set the tone early. They didn't get any clean, open looks. After that it was downhill for them."

It was a hill Troy was unable to climb, as the Aggies stretched the lead to as much as 48 points midway in the second half.

Brian Green was hot from the outside on his way to a 23-point night. Green went 7-of-13 on the night, including six 3-pointers. He was rewarded for his efforts by being named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Tyler Newbold and Tai Wesley were also named to the all-tournament team.

"I was pretty happy about it," Green said about being named MVP. "As a team, we came out and played hard. It was good to win this tournament and get us ready for league. … I might have won MVP, but it's a team effort. My teammates were looking for me and they were in a zone, so there were a lot of open shots."

The shots were open all night for the Aggies, and despite battling tired legs, they still managed to hit on 45 percent of their attempts. Their counterparts from Troy finished 12-of-61 for the game, a miserable 19 percent.

In the loss, Troy head coach Don Maestri had nothing but good things to say about the Aggies.

"(Utah State) plays extremely well as a team," Maestri said. "They take high-percentage shots, and they move the ball well. This is a good basketball team; you don't get to be in the top 40 in the country for nothing,"

As complimentary as Maestri was with the Aggies' team, he was even more impressed with the Utah State fans.