USU basketball: Quayle leads Aggies over Bison

LOGAN — When the season began Utah State coach Stew Morrill made a point of saying there was no single player on this Aggie team capable of replacing Jaycee Carroll.

Probably so, but Jared Quayle gave the boisterous fans at the Smith Spectrum a reasonable substitute for a night, at least, with a jam-packed stat sheet in the Aggies' 85-45 win against an overmatched Howard University team.

Quayle has a tremendous game against the Bison finishing with 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as Utah State (10-1) resumed its traditional role as an ungiving holiday host at the Gossner Foods Duel in the Desert.

He even had the crowd chanting his name after a 3-pointer midway through the second half, giving the Aggies a lead of 40 points. It is Utah State's 27th straight win with no losses in their almost-annual holiday tournament.

"We had a lot of guys play pretty well for us," Morrill said. "Jared's stat line was pretty amazing."

Most impressive, Morrill said, was the 11 rebounds.

"He's an amazing guard rebounder," Morrill said. "He's moving into the Jaycee Carroll realm with his athleticism."

He's also provided USU with a much-needed option now that opponents have locked down on the Aggies' post players.

"I feel like I'm all the way adapted out there," Quayle, a junior from nearby Box Elder High and a transfer from Western Wyoming Junior College, said. "I feel fully comfortable out there."

That has been obvious in recent games as he has moved from the 2-guard position to the point and is the floor general Morrill has been looking for.

Utah State was never seriously threatened by the 1-9 Bison, who were lead by Calvin Thompson's nine points.

Tyler Newbold added 16 for USU while Gary Wilkinson chipped in 13 and Tai Wesley scored 11.

But while the game was an easy victory for the Aggies, it did not come without complain from Morrill.

"I thought," he said, "at times it was a little ragged."

That was the challenge for the Aggies—keeping the intensity high and the focus sharp despite having the game all-but sewn up.