Pearre, Perkins grow up a bit more in Utah State's win over Fresno State


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LOGAN — Utah State freshman guard Julion Pearre started his 14th game of the season Saturday night.

So he has a message for the rest of the Mountain West Conference: don’t call him a freshman anymore.

“Once conference play started, I feel like that was the end of my freshman year,” Pearre said. “Now I’m just having to grow up a little more and not make many mistakes. Just keep growing.”

If Pearre graduated, Saturday night was his commencement exercise with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the 3-point line, to help the Aggies to a home victory over Fresno State, 85-79, at the Spectrum that gave the program its 400th win under head coach Stew Morrill.

Pearre’s growth has risen exponentially given his preference as a full-time starter with the Aggies. He played 29 minutes Saturday and helped anchor a starting guard line that shot 15-of-26 from the field and 8-of-14 from beyond the arc.

“I was taking what the game gave me,” Pearre said. “My teammates were driving and kicking, and I was able to get some open looks.”

Utah State’s shooting performance was also aided by its passing game. The Aggies completed 20 assists on 29 shots made, finding the open man and dishing it for easy buckets. Even reserve freshman Elston Jones, who only played 13 minutes, picked up seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.

Utah State guard Darius Perkins, shown here against San Diego State guard Aqeel Quinn, left, was Utah State's co-leading scorer in the Aggies' 85-79 win over Fresno State on Saturday for their season-high fourth win in a row. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi/File)
Utah State guard Darius Perkins, shown here against San Diego State guard Aqeel Quinn, left, was Utah State's co-leading scorer in the Aggies' 85-79 win over Fresno State on Saturday for their season-high fourth win in a row. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi/File)

“The penetration and kicking helped a lot,” said junior Darius Perkins, the Aggies’ co-leading scorer with Pearre. “JoJo (McGlaston) found me a lot, and that helped me to get going.”

In Utah State’s 61-52 loss at Fresno State (12-15, 7-7 MWC) on Jan. 7, Pearre and fellow guard Darius Perkins combined for nine points. In the return game, the duo tallied equal numbers in a 38-point barrage, with all of Perkins’ 19 points coming in the second half. The junior from Fort Myers, Florida, made 5-of-8 3-point attempts and added two assists and two steals for the Aggies (16-10, 9-5 MWC).

“We don’t have any selfish players,” Perkins said. “We help one another. That’s a good thing.”

The role reversal was a nice improvement for Morrill’s two young guards on the back half of the season.

“We got really good guard play from them, and JoJo (McGlaston, who had seven points and six assists) was really good off the bench,” Morrill said. “Chris (Smith, who had six points and three assists) did some good things, too. We had to play good offense, because we were having a hard time getting stops.”

Utah State scored on five-straight buckets over a four-minute mark in the middle of the second half, but Fresno State clawed back into it and came within a possession on Marvelle Harris’ 3-pointer with 1:26 left on the clock.

But Perkins showed his maturity on the next play, finding space in the left corner and knocking down a triple to put the Aggies back on top 81-75 to hold on for the win.

“It was another good pass from JoJo. I was just open,” Perkins said of the dagger. “I didn’t put any pressure on myself, hoping it went in. And it did.”

The win puts Utah State two games ahead of the Bulldogs for fifth place in the Mountain West with only four games left into the conference tournament in Las Vegas.

It also comes as another milestone for Morrill, who became just the eighth active head coach to win at least 400 games at his current institution. Morrill is now 400-153 as the head coach at Utah State.

“I see why I’m retiring if they are all as tough as this one,” Morrill said with his usual self-deprecating humor. “I don’t remember a tougher win in awhile. I don’t know what to say about that; it just means I’m old, I guess. I’ve been doing it a long time.”

Morrill and his staff kept the milestone under wraps from most of the players — but they were happy for the longtime Aggie head coach.

“I guess I can go down in history with him,” Perkins said with a grin. “I didn’t even know about it until the radio show. That’s a good milestone. I’m proud to be a part of it.”

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