After trailing by 15 early, the never-say-die Aggies completed their third straight comeback victory and maintained a perfect 3-0 start to the season Wednesday night against Santa Clara.
“We got outrebounded. We shot a poor percentage, but we made some shots when we had to,” said head coach Stew Morrill after the win. “We took care of the ball. We kept fighting, and those are all good things.”
Utah State has fallen behind by at least 12 points in each of its games this year but a career night from junior guard Chris Smith and a team-wide effort to make the most of its offensive possessions in the second half carried the home team to a narrow victory.
“We really zeroed in on the second half and started hitting our shots and running our plays,” Smith said. “I’m glad we could make a comeback.”
Smith netted a career-best 14 points in the game, including a big 3-pointer off of an assist from sophomore guard JoJo McGlaston with just under four minutes to play. The shot was the first and only lead change in the contest.
“JoJo found me in the corner,” Smith said. “I just had to make it with the Spectrum behind me.”
The Aggies are 3-0 for the seventh time in 18 seasons under coach Morrill, despite returning just one starter from last year’s squad. Sophomore wing Jalen Moore, now a leader on USU’s young team, recorded 15 points and two blocked shots.
“I think it’s good we never quit. We never give in,” Moore said. “But we need to start playing two halves.”
Morrill agreed.
“Starting out every game and digging ourselves a hole is not healthy,” Morrill said. “I don’t have an answer for why we start out every game so poorly. I think we’re a little nervous. The other team kind of jumps us, and we panic a little bit. Inexperience might be the right word. The good news is we keep fighting.”
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Twitter: @logantj
