LOGAN, Utah (ABC 4 Sports) - Sophomore guard Preston Medlin and junior forward Kyisean Reed combined for 42 points to lead the Aggies of Utah State to a 77-63 caging of the Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech Thursday night in Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
USU opened up its season-long five-game homestand with a win, halting a two-game losing skid to improve to 13-12 overall and even its WAC ledger at 5-5. LA Tech lost its third in a row in falling to 11-13 overall and 3-6 in league play. With the win, the Aggies swept the season series with the Bulldogs, remaining perfect at home at 7-0 and improving to 14-2 overall, winning the last six meetings. Thursday was USU’s 21st-straight home victory in the month of February, improving to 70-27 overall in the month under head coach Stew Morrill, including 44-4 at home.
Medlin was balanced with his scoring, netting 11 in each half to finish with his eighth-straight double-digit scoring outing and his seventh 20-point game this year. The sophomore guard drained four three-pointers, as USU was 6-of-13 from three-point range.
Reed netted 16 of his 20 points in the second-half as USU pulled away from a 35-32 halftime advantage, as the Aggies improved to 12-2 on the year when leading at half, having won 61 of their last 63 games when leading at the break.
Also pulling down a game-high nine rebounds, Reed came up one shy of his second double-double of the year. The nine boards paced the Aggies to a 35-29 rebounding edge, as USU out-rebounded its opposition for the fourth-straight game and 12th time this season, moving to 8-4 when doing so.
LA Tech was led by 15 points apiece from Brandon Gibson and Raheem Appleby. Gibson also pulled down a team-high seven boards.
USU shot 30-of-54 (55.6 percent) from the field, hitting 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) behind the arc. The Aggies also were 84.6 percent (11-of-13) at the free throw line. LTU was 39.7 percent (23-of-58) field goal shooting, making 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from three-point range, as well as 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) at the charity stripe.
In addition to the Aggies’ 35-29 rebounding edge, USU out-scored LTU, 42-20, in points in the paint, behind a 58.5 percent (24-of-41) shooting effort inside the arc.
The lead traded hands several times in the early going, as Medlin hit back-to-back three’s in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the game. USU took an 18-14 lead on a Reed lay-up with 13:14 on the clock, but LTU rallied back to tie it at 20-20 on a free throw by Gibson at the 10:09 mark.
Junior guard E.J. Farris twice gave USU a four-point lead, the first at 24-20 with 8:01 on the clock after a lay-up and the second after a three-pointer at 29-25 with 6:19 to go. Appleby later hit a lay-up to knot the score at 29-all with 4:50 left, but the Bulldogs couldn’t take the lead and USU stretched its advantage to 35-30 with 1:22 remaining on Medlin’s third three of the first frame. Appleby hit a layup with 57 ticks to go to make the scoreboard read 35-32 at intermission.
The Aggies opened the second stanza with a 12-7 run to take a 47-39 lead with 14:34 on the clock after a layup by Reed, and Medlin later hit a three to give the Aggies their first double-digit advantage of the night at 55-44 with 10:23 to go. USU’s lead grew to 16 at 61-45 with 8:01 left after a Medlin layup, but LTU wouldn’t go away, as the Bulldogs clawed away at the deficit, trimming it 69-63 with 2:08 to play on a trey by Gibson. That would be the last time LA Tech would score, as Reed righted the ship for USU with a layup at the 1:36 mark and the Aggies coasted to the win.
Utah State continues its five-game homestand by hosting New Mexico State on Saturday, Feb. 11 in a 1 p.m. (MT) tip-off. The all-Aggie affair is the first game of a double-header with USU and NMSU’s women’s teams which tips at 4 p.m. The USU-NMSU men’s game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
