Boxscore

LOGAN, Utah -- A capacity crowd was on hand at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Saturday night as the Utah State Aggies (12-5; 1-2 WAC) downed the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (4-12; 2-2 WAC) 69-49 after pulling away in the second half.

?First of all, I want to say I?m proud of our guys? effort,? Tech head coach Keith Richard said. ?This was a much better effort than Thursday night (against Boise State). This was a very physical and tough game. We just didn?t have enough offense to keep up with them. We had good plays around the rim, but we just couldn?t get the ball in the basket.?

Senior Chad McKenzie put the Dawgs on the board first with a lay-up at the 18:40 mark. Junior Jaycee Carroll answered for the Aggies with a three-pointer to take the lead 3-2. The Bulldogs answered with an offensive run and led 10-4 thanks to a three from sophomore Drew Washington with 16:21 on the clock.

The Aggies, however, turned the offensive tables over the next four minutes and led by six points on their own at a score of 22-16. Tech rallied back and tied the score at 22 apiece with a 6-0 run capped off by a basket-and-a-foul for senior Jerome Richardson at the 8:23 mark. The Aggies outscored the Bulldogs 15-10 for the remainder of the half and took a 37-32 lead into the locker room.

?We worked hard defensively,? Richard said. ?What we needed to happen in the last 10 minutes of the game was for our offense to stay on par with their?s. Bottom line, they had a little better offense than we did at the end of the day.?

The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead in the second half on another Washington three-pointer with 14:12 left in the game, but Utah State answered with a four-point play from Durrall Peterson on the following play to take the lead back. The Bulldogs would not come any closer for the remainder of the game and lost 69-49.

?I?m extremely proud of the effort regardless of the score,? Richard said. ?I thought we played tough, and even though we didn?t win tonight, you have to play tough to compete in this league.?

Tech was led by McKenzie with 13 points, while McDowell finished with 11. Senior Harry Disy finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards. Carroll led the Aggies with 27 points.

The Bulldogs return to action at home Wednesday, Jan. 17, against the New Mexico State Aggies at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on local FM KXKZ 107.5.