Utah State basketball: Aggies cruise to exhibition win

LOGAN — Junior forwards Nate Bendall and Tai Wesley connected on 15-of-16 field goals and combined for 34 points to lead Utah State to an easy 85-51 exhibition win against Division II Northwest Nazarene in front of 8,641 fans Friday night.

Wesley, who was 8-of-9 from the field and 1-of-3 from the free throw line, finished with 17 points, three blocks, three assists, two rebounds and two steals in just 20 minutes. Bendall was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe, and had 17 points and six rebounds in just 17 minutes.

Freshman guard Preston Medlin added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while freshman forward Tyrone White had 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting. Senior guard Jared Quayle finished the game with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, to go along with six rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Louie Beech was the only Northwest Nazarene player to score in double-figures as he had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Utah State, the defending Western Athletic Conference champions, opened the game on a 12-0 run and lead by as many as 25 points in the first-half before taking a 48-26 lead into the locker room.

Eight players scored for Utah State in the first-half, including 14 points by Wesley, who was 7-of-7 from the field. Medlin added nine points in the first-half as he was 4-of-4 from the field, including 1-of-1 from three-point range.

Utah State shot a blistering 65.5 percent from the field (19-29) during the first 20 minutes and held Northwest Nazarene to 28.1 percent shooting (9-32).

Redshirt sophomore center Modou Niang scored a layup and added the free throw after being fouled with 14:07 remaining to give Utah State its first 30-point lead of the game at 62-32. USU's largest lead came with 3:48 to play at 84-44 following a free throw by White.

Utah State finished the game by shooting 60.8 percent from the field (31-51), 50.0 percent from three-point range (6-12) and 68.0 percent from the free throw line (17-25). Northwest Nazarene shot 29.0 percent overall (18-62), including 5-of-14 (.357) from behind the arc and 10-of-15 (.667) at the charity stripe. USU also had 25 assists, 15 turnovers and 13 steals in the game, while NNU had 18 turnovers and 10 steals. The Aggies also out-rebounded the Crusaders by a slim 38-36 advantage.

Utah State will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 7 when it hosts Trinity Western in its final exhibition game of the season at 7 p.m.