Utah State basketball: Aggies break through Broncos

USU-BSU boxscore

BOISE — The Aggies took over sole ownership of first place in the Western Athletic Conference.

Utah State prevailed against Boise State in a battle of unbeatens Thursday night, 68-59, at Taco Bell Arena.

It was not the prettiest of contests. Utah State did not score the Aggies' first bucket until over five minutes into the game on a Tyler Newbold 3-pointer. Fortunately for the Aggies, their defense was up to the task and kept the game close while the Utah State shooters found their range.

Brian Green was the first Aggie to find his shot. The senior from Kaysville came into the game and scored 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from behind the arc by halftime. That effort gave the Aggies a 33-21 lead at the break. For the game, Green finished with 16 points.

The star for the game, however, was USU point guard Brockeith Pane.

"What was most pleasing about Brockeith was that he didn't start very well, but he hung in their mentally and found a way to make some shots and get some plays going to the basket," USU head coach Stew Morrill said. "He had too many turnovers, but Brian Green and him kept us in the game offensively."

Pane finished with a game-high 19 points and was able to direct the offense when the Broncos' full-court pressure started turning the game into a free for all.

"They caused a lot of turnovers on us; we had 22 (turnovers)," Pane said. "It kind of got sloppy, but we found a way to win and that's always a good learning point."

Morrill was not happy with the turnovers, but was happy to get out of Boise with a victory.

"There were some good things and bad things; the best thing is that we found a way to get a win," Morrill said. "We really struggled taking care of the ball."

The Aggies' defensive intensity was strong all night, holding the Broncos to just 32 percent shooting and forcing 13 turnovers of their own.

"We defended well and rebounded well," Morrill said. "We had enough maturity when things weren't going well to keep playing." Things did not go well for the Aggies against full-court pressure, where they turned over the ball often. In doing so, the Aggies may have survived against the Broncos but have given the rest of the conference a blueprint to beat them.

"People are going to watch this tape and say 'Oh, we can press them,' " Pane said. "We have to pay very close attention to press-break drills in practice the next couple of weeks. We will be ready for it. It won't happen again."

Utah State will continue its road trip with a visit to Fresno State to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday night.