Utah State basketball: Aggies looking to rebound in WAC play against hot La. Tech

RUSTON, La. — Utah State coach Stew Morrill didn't find fault with team's defense or effort on offense.

What he did find fault with, however, was the lack of execution that lead to a somewhat-surprising 55-52 loss at New Mexico State Saturday night to open Western Athletic Conference play.

"We're having a little trouble scoring the basketball," Morrill said in a post-game radio interview, "and that's costing us some games."

But while a loss to Utah, Saint Mary's or Northeastern is tough to take because of offensive breakdowns, losing a WAC game is especially difficult to swallow because the games carry a higher importance.

Monday night, Utah State has another tough task as they take on the 13-2 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at 6 p.m.

A win would salvage a road trip to open conference play. A loss would be nearly disastrous as the Aggies hope to avoid finding themselves in an 0-2 WAC hole.

The Bulldogs, the surprise team in the league this year, have won six straight and beat Nevada Saturday night, 77-71, to legitimize their claim as a WAC contender.

Utah State, which outshot and outrebounded NMSU Saturday, was undone by turnovers and an inability to get to the free-throw line, where the Aggies have punished foes.

"We had a good effort on the defensive end," USU point guard Jared Quayle said on the radio after limiting NMSU to less than 43-percent shooting. "Our offense just needs to step up and hit some shots."

Utah State, though it made 48 percent of its shots, was just 3-of-13 from 3-point range and committed 15 turnovers. Most disturbing in some ways was the total of just seven assists on 23 baskets and only five free throws shot — indicating the Aggies were not aggressive on the offensive end of the court.

"Obviously if our shots don't fall, we need to drive to the basket," Quayle said. "We didn't do that enough."

Louisiana Tech, coached by former Utah and East High coach Kerry Rupp and assisted by USU grad Curtis Condie, is playing as well as anyone in the WAC right now. The Bulldogs are paced by hot-shooting guard Kyle Gibson, who averages 21.3 points and has killed opponents by driving and getting to the line an eye-catching 119 times and makes 89.1 percent of his shots there.

LaTech has not lost at home this year in six games.

The Aggies won't be back at home for a game until hosting Hawaii on Jan. 11.

e-mail: jeborn@desnews.com