Utah State basketball: Aggies fall 78-71 to Nevada - Salt Lake Tribune

Logan • When it counted, Utah State couldn’t stop Deonte Burton. Or get key rebounds. Or take the lead when it had multiple chances.

The Aggies, looking to send a message to Nevada, a team many picked to win the Western Athletic Conference, instead saw their 33-game WAC home winning streak snapped, as the Wolf Pack led wire to wire in a 78-71 win before a sold-out crowd of 10,270 at the Spectrum on Saturday night.

Instead of feeling good about itself with two home wins to open up league play, Utah State now has a 1-1 WAC record with a three-game road swing staring it right in the face. New Mexico State awaits the Aggies on Thursday in Las Cruces.

“Nevada came in here ready to play,” USU senior point guard Brockeith Pane said. “They came in hungry for a win. I can see why they were picked as the preseason number one team.”

While Pane scored 21 points, handed out six assists and had five rebounds for maybe his best all-around game of the season, Burton was simply on another level as the two all-conference guards dueled throughout.

A sophomore, Burton scored a game-high 25 points. His four-point play with 37.5 seconds remaining gave the Wolf Pack a 74-68 advantage USU couldn’t overcome. Burton, who may be the best individual talent in the WAC, played all 40 minutes. Whenever Nevada needed a big shot or a big play, he was there.

“Nevada’s had two NBA guards before Burton, and I think he’s better than both of them,” Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said, referring to Ramon Sessions and Armon Johnson, both of whom are still currently in the league.

“Burton’s a pro and Nevada is really good. Their athleticism really bothered us. I would’ve like to have seen what we could’ve done if we had taken the league.”

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That wasn’t to be for the Aggies on Saturday night. Nevada led all 40 minutes. There was one tie, at 56-56. The Wolf Pack led by as much as 39-29 in the first half, and made shots whenever USU seriously threatened.

The Aggies, with the game tied, had three possessions that could’ve put them ahead, but didn’t capitalize. Then, Nevada’s Jordan Burris hit a long three-pointer to give his team a 59-56 advantage and Utah State never pulled even again.

The Aggies received 20 points and three rebounds from sophomore shooting guard Preston Medlin. But USU was outrebounded 34-24, with Nevada’s Dario Hunt grabbing seven offensive rebounds by himself. Hunt and Olek Czyz scored 14 points each for the Wolf Pack. Senior center Morgan Grim scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for USU. No other Aggie, however, scored in double-figures.

“I was proud of our guys,” Morrill said. “They played really hard. We had lots of chances. I think rebounding proved to be the difference. Nevada got lots of offensive boards and we just couldn’t keep them off the glass. We knew that this was an issue for this team. We work hard on it everyday in practice.”

tjones@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tonyaggieville