Ag senior WAC MVP yet again

RENO, Nev. — He was bruised, battered and beat up for much of the season, but Utah State's burly redheaded senior did not let any of the nagging injuries he's dealt with all year long deny him as he willed the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament with a 72-62 win over Nevada.

Gary Wilkinson scored 21 points, grabbed six rebounds and followed up his Western Athletic Conference regular season MVP award with a tournament MVP honor.

The 26-year-old with a Cinderella story is a huge fan favorite in Logan and helped seal the win with 13 second half points.

BRACKET WATCHING: Before Saturday's WAC title game, bracket 'experts' across the Internet were making their almost-final projections.

CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm had USU as a 12 seed playing UCLA in Boise. ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi is a little more favorable to USU with the Aggies as an 11 seed playing Clemson — also in Boise.

"The Aggies are getting help as other at-large teams fall by the wayside, but it's still recommended that they win the WAC tournament to secure an automatic bid," ESPN's Mark Schlabach wrote. "The Aggies are ranked in the top 30 of the RPI, which usually is a litmus test for making the NCAA field, but their overall resume is pretty empty."

Saturday's result against Nevada took care of the question about if Utah State would be on or off the bubble. But in terms of seeding USU fans would love either scenario if only for the quick trip up I-84 to watch the Aggies.

E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com