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Utah State and New Mexico State battle for WAC supremacy

Sat 13th, March 2010

Reno, NV (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Utah State tries to make it back-to- back Western Athletic Conference Tournament titles tonight as the squad clashes with the New Mexico State Aggies in the 27th-annual event at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

On Friday night the Utah State Aggies left no doubt that they deserved a spot in the championship game as they completely dominated Louisiana Tech by a final of 85-55. It was the third straight game in which USU had scored at least 81 points and represented the program's 17th straight victory overall since opening the conference schedule with back-to-back setbacks against NMSU and LaTech, coincidentally. Utah State began its quest for a second-straight crown with an 84-60 romp over eighth-seeded Boise State on Thursday afternoon.

As for the New Mexico State Aggies, the third seed in this year's tourney, they first took care of San Jose State two nights ago with ease in a 90-69 final and continued their spirited play with an 80-79 triumph over host team Nevada in a matchup that came down to the wire last night.

USU currently owns a 37-32 edge over NMSU after crushing the visiting Aggies at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan just last week by a score of 81-63. In the conference opener back on January 2nd, NMSU posted a low-scoring 55-52 win over Utah State at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces. The teams also have a history in past WAC title games, as New Mexico State handed Utah State a 72-70 decision for the championship back in 2007.

Trailing by one with just seconds to play, Jahmar Young took control for the Aggies and put them into the win column when he sank a jumper with five seconds remaining in regulation. One of four players to score in double figures for the Aggies, Young finished with 15 points, five assists and four rebounds as he shot a mere 4-of-15 from the floor. Troy Gillenwater logged a season-high 21 points and collected eight boards off the bench, Wendell McKines posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards and Jonathan Gibson accounted for 10 points as well. Even though the Aggies have several starters who can take control of a game and lead them to the win column this season, the player to watch tonight is Gillenwater because he's been able to bring a burst of energy off the bench since he has played in barely one-third of all the games for the program. He is averaging 14.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for a team that is putting up a whopping 78.9 ppg, but also allowing 78.3 ppg. Gibson (17.7 ppg) is the three-point specialist with his 102 conversions this season, but one can't sleep on Young (20.5 ppg) because he too has had huge success on the perimeter with his 71 treys in 2009-10.

USU allowed LaTech to take an early two-point lead in the opening moments of their meeting on Friday, but after that the Bulldogs were forced to play catch-up the rest of the way as they shot just 8-of-27 from the field in the first half and 34.5 percent for the game, compared to a staggering 58.8 percent by one of the top shooting teams in the nation. Jared Quayle posted 16 points on 4-of-6 behind the three-point line in limited minutes, while Brady Jardine came off the bench to tally 13 points. Pooh Williams accounted for 10 points before being sent to the bench in order to rest the starters once it became obvious that USU was moving on. Tai Wesley, who tallied eight points, six assists and five rebounds, remains the leading scorer (13.7 ppg) and rebounder (6.5 rpg) for the program and because of his close proximity to the glass at the offensive end of the floor he has been shooting 57.9 percent from the field this season. Quayle (12.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 140 assists) is shooting better from three-point range (.433) than he is the floor overall (.410), which is just one of the reasons why Utah State is one of the most accurate three-point shooting teams in the nation this season at 42.4 percent.