USU basketball: Aggies blow Cal Poly off the floor, win by 40

LOGAN — For a moment, Utah State coach Stew Morrill was worried during the Aggies game with Cal Poly Saturday night.

But then, with 14:44 left in the first half, senior center Gary Wilkinson pulled himself up off the floor, shook off the slight twist of his ankle and the Aggies proceeded to blow the Mustangs off the floor.

"That kind of takes your breath away," Morrill said after Utah State rolled over Cal Poly 97-57 to improve its record to 4-0. "You are about ready to have a heart attack when you see something like that."

At the time of Wilkinson's near injury, Cal Poly was giving the Aggies a game, leading 14-10. But from that point on it was all Utah State and Morrill had nothing to worry about.

Wilkinson led the Aggies with 21 points and nine rebounds while playing only 21 minutes. Sophomore power forward Tai Wesley added 14 points, and backup shooting guard Stavon Williams dropped 15 points on the Mustangs while hitting five of six 3-point shots.

The blowout served as a chance for Morrill to rest starters, empty the bench and send a Thanksgiving-weekend crowd of just 6,715 home with a rousing victory to celebrate.

"We just got it rolling offensively," Morrill said. "Pretty soon, the basket got as big as a bathtub."

Utah State shot an impressive 64.9 percent from the field with Wilkinson, Wesley and fellow post players Matt Formisano and Modou Niang combining for 20 baskets on only 27 attempts.

Long before the game was over, the Aggie student section was chanting "up by 40." But even though it was a blowout, Morrill said the Aggies learned plenty and grew as a team.

"We got a lot out of that game," he said. "We got guys time that needed to get time."

Ten USU players logged 13 or more minutes and eight scored six or more points.

While the defense was limiting Cal Poly to just 42 percent shooting, USU also enjoyed a 37-20 rebounding advantage while committing only eight turnovers.

Utah State's 37 baskets came on 26 assists.

And aside from the early run the Mustangs made, the Utah State players and coaches said it was, perhaps, the most complete game of the season.

"We had to buckle down and put two of those together," said USU's Tyler Newbold, who had nine points and five assists.

The Aggies will be back in action on Tuesday when they host their third Big West Conference opponent of the season as UC Irvine visits the Spectrum.

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