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Show Friday, March 23, 2012 Page 7 FridaySp0FtS Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com MEN'S BASKETBALL TouchBase AggieSchedules Men's Basketball SUNDAY, MARCH 25 usu vs. Oakland, 7 p.m., in Spectrum Gymnastics SATURDAY, MARCH 24 WAC Championships, 6 p.m., in Spectrum Track and Field SATURDAY, MARCH 24 UC Irvine Invitational Softball FRIDAY, MARCH 23 USU at Louisiana Tech, 5 p.m. SATURDAY, MARCH 24 USU at Louisiana Tech, noon USU at Louisiana Tech, 2 p.m. Women's Tennis FRIDAY, MARCH 23 USU vs. San Fransisco, noon, at Sports Academy SATURDAY, MARCH 24 USU vs. Louisiana Tech, 10 a.m. Men's Tennis MARCH 22-23 Cal Poly Intercollegiate, Arroyo Grande, Calif. Cycling MARCH 23-24 USU at Utah Valley, Orem CITResults TUESDAY, MARCH 20 Oakland 77, Rice 70 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 Fairfield 67, Robert Morris 61 Mercer 79, Old Dominion 73 Utah State 77, Loyola Marymount 69 C/TSchedule SATURDAY, MARCH 24 Mercer (25-11) at Fairfield (22-14), 7 p.m. SUNDAY, MARCH 25 Oakland (20-15) at Utah State (20-15), 6 p.m. WACResults NIT Semis WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 Nevada 56, Stanford 84 Baseball pitcher awarded ggies tame Lions SENIOR POINT GUARD BROCKEITH PANE steps to the foul line to shoot one of the four technical foul shots he made late in the 77-69 win over Loyola Marymount in the quarterfinals of the Collegelnsider.com Postseason Tournament on Wednesday. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo USU beats Loyola Marymount 77-69 to advance to CIT semifinals BY TYLER HUSKINSON assistant sports editor The USU men's basketball team became one of 28 Division-I teams still playing basketball Wednesday night. Sophomore guard Preston Medlin continued his post-season tear with 23 points and eight rebounds to lead USU over the Loyola Marymount Lions at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Spectrum had 5,546 fans in attendance for the Colleglnsider.com Postseason Tournament — fewer than normal for a men's basketball game in Logan — to see USU defeat LMU 77-69 in the quarterfinal matchup. "They are really good team," senior forward Morgan Grim said. "It was a big win for us. We didn't just scrape by either. We played them pretty handily until the last bit. We're just playing better and I Utah State baseball's starting pitcher Kyle Durrant was named the National Club Baseball Association pitcher of the week. Durrant threw a fiveinning perfect game last week in Utah State's 14 0 win over Utah Valley University. The starter struck out 12 batters in the game and retired 15 straight batters. He only allowed one hit out of the infield. Durrant has a 3.68 ERA and has three wins so far this season. Durrant's performance helped the Aggies to a national ranking of No. 24 in the NCBA, their best ranking so far this season. The Aggies have a record of 10-4 and are on a 10-game winning streak after dropping the first four games of the season to scholarship programs. email.usu.edu up the defensive pressure in a full-court press. The Lions slowly chipped away at USU's lead and eventually cut the advantage to within four points with 3:05 to play. Grim, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, ended LMU's run with a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession. "I've been feeling really good lately," he said. "We had a good break after the WAC Tournament and my ankle feels a million times better. I can actually go play and run around and have some energy. It's very different when you are limping around." USU pushed its lead back up to nine points — all from free throws — and what had been an already physical game reached its boiling point with 1:26 remaining. Medlin was forced into a timeout after junior guard Jarred DuBois and Ireland had trapped him in the backcourt. After Medlin called timeout, he got tangled up with DuBois and associate head coach Myke Scholl earned a Class A technical foul with his comments to officials. The Class A technical foul earned LMU head coach Max Good a Class B technical foul. Those technical fouls translated to four made free throws by Pane. USU retained possession and Medlin sank two more free throws to push the lead to 15. The Aggies made 32 of 35 free throws on the night, and LMU made 7 of 14 free throws. "We needed all of them," Morrill said of the free throws. "It looked like we were just going to put this game away, and we kind of let them back in a little bit. They made some plays to give themselves a chance to get back in it, but making free throws basically sealed the game. It didn't hurt to have four free ones either. I'll take those." USU has won six of its last seven games and earned another 20-win season with its victory over LMU. "Getting to 20 wins is a great thing," Medlin said. "Not every team gets 20 wins. We fought really hard to get there, and we made comeback from when people didn't think wed do very good." The Aggies will host the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the semifinal game. "We're happy to have another home game," Morrill said. "Obviously in this valley you'd rather not play on Sunday, but you do what they tell you. We are a state school. Hopefully those that don't like it will forgive us, go to church and come to the game." - ty.d.hus@aggiemaiLusu.edu Free throws key in CIT win BY TYLER HUSKINSON - - meredith.kinney@aggi- think it shows. Our practice habits are definitely carrying over." USU head coach Stew Morrill said "it was feisty game." "There was a lot of scrappy plays going on," he said. "We played really hard. We scrapped hard. I'm happy to get a win. That's a good basketball team we beat. They've shown that throughout the year." It was back and forth between the two teams in the first half, as there were five ties and eight lead changes. A Medlin layup off a Kyisean Reed block gave USU its largest lead of the half at 22-15, but LMU would eventually tie the game up as junior forward Ashley Hamilton would tie the game at 26-all with a free throw. USU finished the first half on a 7-0 run and built a double-digit lead in the second half, which it sustained for much of the half. Medlin opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a double-digit lead, and freshman forward Ben Clifford would give USU its largest lead of the night with a baseline 3-pointer. A pair of free throws from sophomore forward Mitch Bruneel gave USU a 62-51 lead with 5:40 to play, but LMU responded with a 7-0 run capped by a layup from sophomore guard Anthony Ireland, who finished the game with 23 points. After Clifford's 3-pointer, USU would struggle to hit field goals as LMU turned assistant sports SOPHOMORE GUARD PRESTON MEDLIN shoots in the Loyola Marymount game Wednesday. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo editor One month ago, the USU men's basketball team was in danger of finishing with a losing record for the first time under head coach Stew Morrill's tenure. The idea of achieving a 13th consecutive 23-win season was also entirely inconceivable. Though the Aggies forfeited any chance of winning 23 games with their early exit in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, the Collegelnsider.com Postseason Tournament selection committe gave USU a chance to win more games in the postseason. The Aggies notched their 20th win Wednesday night over the Loyola Marymount Lions 77-69 and punched their ticket to the semifinals of the CIT. With three games remaining in the regular season, USU had a losing conference record (5-6) and sat right at 14-14 overall. "Some people had us counted out at the end of the season," senior forward Morgan Grim said. "It's a good lesson for the guys who are coming back. It's a good thing for our season to get 20 wins, and we've just got to keep grinding. A lot of people had us looking at a losing season. We just started playing with nothing to lose and playing together and playing with a lot of energy?' The Aggies have now won six of their last seven games — a winning streak that began with a 67-50 Senior Night victory over the Idaho Vandals. "Like I've said the past couple of days, I'm really proud of this group," Morrill said. "It would have been so easy to fold in the tent. We could have went 14-18 in a heartbeat. Then they went out and swept out on the road." Morrill said the hot streak says a lot about the men on the team. "We've won six of our last seven and we're still playing," he said. "They've hung in there. There's been a lot of adversity this year and they've hung in there. I think the 20 wins reflects them hanging in there." Part of USU's success during the postseason can be attributed to its improved free-throw shooting. Morrill often referred to USU's shooting during the season as an "adventure," but USU has hit better than 80 percent from the charity stripe during its CIT games. Utah State made more than double the number of foul shots that Loyola Marymount, as the Aggies went 32 of 35 and the Lions hit 7 of 14 attempts. The Aggies shot 91.4 percent from the foul line for the game — 8 for 8 in the first half and 24 of 27 in the second. Two of the three missed were front ends of 1-and-1 situations by sophomore guard Preston Medlin, with 5:34 left in the game, See AGGIES, Page 8 |
