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GAME NOTES: The Utah State Aggies try to draw closer to the regular-season title in the Western Athletic Conference tonight as they square off against the Fresno State Bulldogs at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan.

The Aggies have a one-game lead in the conference standings over New Mexico State with their 12-2 record at the moment, with those two programs meeting in the regular-season finale this Saturday night. Since losing back-to-back games to open the WAC schedule, USU has been untouchable with 13 straight wins. The most recent victory for the Aggies came on Thursday night in a 61-50 triumph over Hawaii out in Honolulu. Utah State now has 23 wins on the season, joining only Kansas and Gonzaga to have achieved such a win total in 11 straight seasons.

As for the Bulldogs, their effort this past Saturday was nothing short of disappointing. The squad scored a total of just 16 points in the first half and eventually lost by a final of 72-45 at San Jose State two nights ago. The setback was the fourth in the last five outings for a team that is now just 6-8 in conference and two games under .500 (14-16) overall as well.

The Aggies won the first meeting of the season back on January 21st with a 69-43 thrashing of Fresno State on the road. With that victory, USU now leads the all-time series by a count of 27-19.

The Fresno State offense was simply atrocious on Saturday as the team shot a feeble 15-of-60 from the field and 9-of-18 at the free-throw line, not to mention 6-of-27 behind the three-point line. What's worse is the fact that so many of the starters looked uninspired, which is why head coach Steve Cleveland pulled them in the second half to see if he could get a better response from his reserves. Steven Shepp at one stage knocked down three straight threes, but he ended the game 4-of-10 out on the perimeter and tied Sylvester Seay for the scoring lead with 12 points. Perhaps most disappointing was Paul George who played 27 minutes and failed to score a single point. At this stage of the season, George is both the leading scorer (16.8 ppg) and rebounder (7.1 rpg) for the Bulldogs, but you sure couldn't tell by his efforts against San Jose State. Seay accounts for 14.8 ppg and another 6.0 rpg, while Greg Smith adds 11.9 ppg and 6.1 rpg, which means the Bulldogs should have one of the strongest front lines in the conference, but that's not always the case as they showed over the weekend.

It wasn't pretty, but the Aggies made the most of their trip to Hawaii last week as they logged the 11-point win against the Warriors. Jared Quayle accounted for 13 points and seven rebounds, both of which were team highs, while Pooh Williams delivered 12 points. Fellow starters Nate Bendall and Tai Wesley both contributed nine points, the latter also collecting six boards and handing out a team-best five assists as the squad got by with 43.8 percent shooting from the field and a mere 6-of-18 behind the three-point line. The Aggies have had a few close games of late, but they rarely feel the pressure since they are shooting not only 48.5 percent from the field, but also 42.3 percent behind the three-point line and 76.8 percent at the charity stripe, the latter two stats ranking them among the best in the nation entering this week. Wesley leads the team in scoring with his 13.1 ppg and is also first with 6.4 rpg, while Quayle accounts for 12.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 120 assists, making him one of the most well-rounded performers in the conference.

The Bulldogs have been less than impressive in recent weeks and with so much riding on these last few games for Utah State, this should be an easy win for the Aggies at home where they have lost only once this season.