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Show Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 Page 8 FridaySp0 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Touch Base 11, MEN'S BASKETBALL AggieSchedules Men's Basketball SATURDAY, JAN. 28 usu vs. San Jose State, 7 p.m. in Spectrum Women's Basketball SATURDAY, JAN. 28 USU at Idaho, 6:30 p.m. Hockey FRIDAY, JAN. 27 USU vs. Washington, 7 p.m. at Eccles Ice Center Indoor Track JAN. 27-28 USU vs. Washingotn State Invitational, Pullman, Wash. Gymnastics FRIDAY, JAN. 27 USU vs. Southern Utah, Boise State, 7 p.m. in Spectrum Women's Tennis TUESDAY, JAN. 31 USU vs. Weber State, noon WACStandings Men's Basketball WAC Nevada NMSU Idaho Hawaii Utah State La. Tech Fresno State SJSU 6-0 4-2 4-2 3-3 3-3 3-3 1-5 0-6 OVERALL 17-3 14-7 11-9 11-9 11-10 11-10 9-13 7-14 Women's Basketball WAC OVERALL Fresno State Utah State Hawaii La. Tech SJSU Nevada NMSU Idaho 4-0 3-1 3-1 2-2 2-2 1-3 1-3 0-4 16-4 12-6 8-11 9-10 7-12 5-14 4-15 5-15 WACResults Men's Basketball Thursday, Jan. 26 Utah State 77, Hawaii 72 Louisiana Tech 59, Fresno State 58 Nevada 68, New Mexico State 60 Idaho 74, San Jose State 66 Women's Basketball Fresno State 76, San Jose State 49 Hawaii 72, Nevada 63 Top 25 AGGIE BASKETBALL PLAYERS, from left to right, Kyisean Reed, Jordan Stone, Brockeith Pane and Morgan Grim, all helped to defeat the Hawaii Warriors 77-72 Jan. 26. The win brought Utah State to I I - I 0 and 3-3 in Western Athletic Conference play. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photos Aggies outbattle Warriors BY TYLER HUSKINSON assistant sports editor Returning home to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum usually means good things for the Utah State men's basketball team. Sophomore guard Preston Medlin scored 25 points in a win over an athletic and physical Hawaii team 77 72 - on Thursday. "We needed this win in the worst way," USU head coach Stew Morrill said. "We scrapped and clawed and hung in there. We tried to give it away a little, there at the end, but I am pleased with how hard our guys played." Morrill was also pleased with how his team handled assistant sports editor The Utah State men's basketball team has struggled all season with rebounding due to its lack of size in the post, and Aggie head coach Stew Morrill knew they'd have a tough time rebounding against a quick, athletic Hawaii team Thursday night. "When New Mexico State walks onto the floor, they just kind of shock you, and they did the same last year with their size and their bulk, their height and their strength," Morrill said. "Nevada has somewhat the same effect. They are very athletic and big and strong, not maybe quite as strong, but lots of weapons. Hawaii is right there with both of them in all of those regards. I think that most of us in the league would say that that is a fair statement." Hawaii out-rebounded USU 48-28 on the night and two of the Warriors finished with double-figure rebounds. Forward Joston Thomas finished with 10 rebounds, and center Vander Joaquim led the Warriors with 14 rebounds. "We just struggled out there with their size, — with about anyone that we play — trying to get rebounds," Morrill said. Hawaii pulled down 24 offensive rebounds on the night, which led to 24 second-chance points. "They are a really big team. Their guards are big — all 6-foot-6 and taller," sophomore guard Preston Medlin said. "They are just physical — more physical than Nevada or New Mexico State. It's tough. We're a little undersized at the post. We've just got to help the posts out as much as guards." Despite being undersized, a rebound margin of 20 is still a concern for USU. "I think it's a big concern for our team," junior forward Kyisean Reed said. "We don't have one dominant rebounder. All five guys have to go rebound. I think it's a big concern." Defending senior Zane Johnson was See WARRIORS, Page 10 Utah State hockey heads into final games of season BY MEREDITH KINNEY sports senior writer Others receiving votes: Illinois 22, Louisville 23 since Western Athletic Conference play began, was a big concern for the Aggies, heading into the contest, but USU held the senior to nine points. The Aggies had no answer for Hawaii junior center Vander Joaquim, who finished the game with 24 points and 14 rebounds. See VICTORY, Page 10 HOCKEY West Virginia 96, Gonzaga 82, Vanderbilt 40, Louisville 35, Harvard 32, Wichita State 28, Cincinnati 20, Illinois 11, Middle Tennessee 9, Dayton 3, Iona 2, Long Beach State 1 Dropped from rankings: USU and Hawaii traded leads through the first seven minutes, before the Aggies took the lead for good on a jumper from forward Ben Clifford. The freshman's basket sparked a 13-2 run and USU led the remainder of the game. Hawaii's Zane Johnson, who averages a little more than 18 points a night Rebounding still a problem for Utah State BY TYLER HUSKINSON 1 Kentucky (61) 19-1 2 Missouri (2) 18-1 3 Syracuse (2) 20-1 4 Ohio State 17-3 5 Kansas 16-3 17-2 6 Baylor 7 North Carolina 16-3 8 Duke 16-3 16-3 9 Georgetown 10 Michigan State 16-4 11 Murray State 20-0 12 UNLV 18-3 13 San Diego State 17-2 14 Florida 15-4 15 Creighton 18-2 16 Indiana 16-4 17 Marquette 16-4 18 Miss. State 16-4 19 Virginia 15-3 20 Michigan 15-5 21 Saint Mary's 19-2 22 Kansas State 14-4 23 Florida State 13-6 24 Connecticut 14-5 25 Wisconsin 16-5 Hawaii's defense. "They played a variety of defenses — junk defenses, zone, man-to-man, box and one, triangle and two, one-two-two zone," he said. "They just tried to totally get us out of rhythm with a variety of defenses. When you look at the stat sheet, everything was good for us except rebounding." USU HOCKEY'S JOEL BASSON handles the puck in a game earlier this season. KIMBERLY SHORTS photo Utah State hockey is heading into the home stretch of its season. Ranked No. 2 in the West, the Aggies have five games left to make a statement before the National Championship tournament. "We are currently sitting at number two, and there's still two more voting periods," USU head coach Jon Eccles said. "We're right where we want to be." If the team can hold onto that No. 2 spot, USU will get a pass to the American College Hockey Association National Tournament. "We want that auto-bid," Eccles said. Eccles said with the way the Aggies have been playing, a spot in the tournament seems secure. Of the five games left, one is against a team the Aggies haven't faced before. Tonight the Aggies face off against University of Washington Huskies. Utah State has home-ice advantage, but UW is not a team to underestimate. The Huskies are coming into Eccles Ice Center with a regular season record of 17-6. Ranked at No. 10 in the West, the Huskies are coming off a rough showing at the Western Showcase in early December in which they lost all four games by a combined score of 28-7. Since then Washington has won all six of their games including two against Oregon, which was ranked at the time. The Huskies are led by junior goal scorer Corey James. The forward has 22 goals on the season. James is supported by freshman Ryan Minkoff, who has 15 ► See HOCKEY, Page 11 |