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LOGAN — Utah State had the shooting percentage, the inside presence and the history to beat Boise State on Tuesday night.
The Aggies only lacked one thing, according to head coach Stew Morrill: toughness.
Turns out, that can go a long way.
Derrick Marks scored 23 points in only 26 minutes of play as the Broncos avenged an earlier home loss to the Aggies with a 68-63 win at the Spectrum to even Utah State’s conference record.
“They basically out-toughed us in a lot of areas. I didn’t think we took anything away from them,” Morrill said. “They played to their strengths, had a kid make a bunch of threes. I told our team before that we’d have to have one of our best defensive performances of the year to have a chance to win, and we didn’t. They got whatever they wanted. That’s disappointing; we are a soft basketball team right now. We’re not very tough physically and mentally."
David Collette led the Aggies with 17 points and six rebounds, and Chris Smith added 16 points for the home team. Jalen Moore scored 15, and Darius Perkins had 13 points — but the Aggies’ four-man bench was held scoreless. Henry Bolton came off the bench to supply a season-high three assists, but the Aggies only got 13 rebounds and seven assists from their non-starters in 46 minutes.
Utah State (12-10, 5-5 MWC) shot 48 percent from the field, 2 percent better than the Broncos, and outrebounded Boise State on the defensive glass 24-23. But Boise State earned 10 defensive rebounds to the Aggies’ seven, and Marks’ 4-of-6 from beyond the 3-point line doomed the home team that was riding an 18-game home winning streak against the Broncos.
We have a great group of kids, but they have to be tougher. They have to get a loose ball, get a rebound when we need it, and make a free throw when the game's on the line. That's just basketball. We're going to have a lot of tight games in conference play. This was one of them, and we didn't do the things we needed to do to win. And they did — give them credit.
–Utah State coach Stew Morrill
Boise State (16-6, 6-3 MWC) led for more than 30 minutes of game time, but the Aggies never trailed by more than eight and kept the game within four points for most of the effort. Collette gave Utah State a brief lead at 49-47 with 8:45 left in the game, but the Aggies couldn’t hold off Marks of the Broncos. The senior from Chicago retook the lead at 52-51 with a deep three with 6:06 left, then followed with a putback layup about 30 seconds later on the team’s next offensive possession.
“He’s a good player,” Collette said of Marks. “He sat the whole (first) half, and he was coming out looking to get his. That’s exactly what he did.”
The Aggies did a lot right to continue their 18-0 mark at home against the Broncos. Utah State dished out 18 assists on 25 field goals, the second-most this season and most since Jan. 17 against Air Force. But the Aggies couldn’t match the Broncos’ physical nature.
James Webb III had 18 points and a game-high eight rebounds for Boise State, which got 17 points from Nick Duncan and eight boards from Rob Heyer.
“They were just out-physicaling us, getting loose balls and rebounds,” Smith said. “It was all stuff we needed.”
Utah State will travel to New Mexico on Saturday, looking to avenge a 66-60 loss Jan. 10 in the Spectrum. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Pit in Albuquerque.
“We have a great group of kids, but they have to be tougher,” Morrill said. “They have to get a loose ball, get a rebound when we need it, and make a free throw when the game’s on the line. That’s just basketball. We’re going to have a lot of tight games in conference play. This was one of them, and we didn’t do the things we needed to do to win. And they did — give them credit.”
