Utah St. Rallies to Beat Pacific

Utah State bid adieu to the Big West by once again walking away with the conference’s bid into the NCAA tournament.

As it has been their habit in recent seasons, the Aggies dominated play in the conference’s tournament, walking off with a 65-52 victory in the Anaheim Convention Center. It is the fifth time in the last eight seasons that the Aggies (24-7) have won the tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

“I’ve been telling my kids the last three weeks we were going to win this tournament,” Coach Stew Morrill said. “That’s not usually my style, but I thought that we’ve had so many close games this season, it was important to be positive.

“Sometimes when you talk about good things, good things happen.”

Pacific (26-3) began the game with a 22-game winning streak, the longest in the nation. The last time the Tigers had lost was Dec. 18 against San Francisco.

Jaycee Carroll scored 22 points and Spencer Nelson 16 to lead the Aggies, but it was their relentless pressure that overwhelmed the Tigers. That allowed Utah State to open the second half with a 19-6 run to overcome a 35-30 deficit.

The normally efficient pass-and-pick Tigers were taken out of their offense by an aggressive Aggie defense. Pacific, which shot 40% from the field, went nearly 10 minutes without a point before David Doubley dropped a three-point basket. But John Neil sank a three-pointer on Utah State’s next possession for a 52-40 lead. When Nelson made a short jumper, the Aggies had a 55-40 lead with 4 minutes 23 seconds to play.

The 18th-ranked Tigers were confident that win or lose, they would receive an NCAA berth.

“With the season we had, we think we belong in the tournament even after losing this game,” Guillaume Yango said before the game.

A year ago, Utah State won 25 regular-season games and was ranked 22nd, yet was left at home by the selection committee. The Aggies, though, can relax this year, knowing they have a spot in the 65-team field.

This was Utah State’s last hurrah in the Big West, as the Aggies will follow the well-worn path out of the conference, joining the Western Athletic Conference next season.

“It’s a little sad because this conference has been fun,” Morrill said this week.

Fun for the Aggies, maybe. The parting may be more sweet than sorrow for other teams in the conference, having seen Utah State abscond with the conference’s bid on a regular basis.

The Aggies began Saturday’s game as if they wanted to leave a lasting impression, holding Pacific to one field goal through the first nine minutes. But the Aggies were equally skilled at smothering their own offense and had only a 14-6 lead when the Tigers finally kick started.