Jan. 8, 2009

Box Score

RUSTON -- There wasn't much scoring in the Thomas Assembly Center Thursday night, but ultimately the Utah State Aggies (14-1; 2-0 WAC) would come away the victors over Louisiana Tech (7-9; 1-2 WAC) by a final score of 50-37 in front of a crowd 1,442.

"They just out-toughed us down the stretch," Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. "They got the ball inside and made some big plays, and we need to do the same thing. We needed to gap dribble into the middle of that zone and kick down or kick it out and just get something going. Sometimes you just have to make plays."

It was a defensive contest from the very beginning with neither team able to score in the first two minutes of play, and the first basket of the night came by way of a thunderous dunk by junior Magnum Rolle with 17:46 on the clock.

The Bulldogs would reclaim the lead in the first half with a three-pointer from junior Kyle Gibson with 12:52 on the clock for a 6-4 score. The score sparked a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to give Tech a 13-5 lead with 9:14 to go in the first half of play.

Tech would take a first half lead as large as nine points at 19-10 with less than six minutes to play. The Aggies, however, would rattle off eight-unanswered points for the remainder of the first half and cut the halftime lead to 19-18.

The Bulldogs started the second half with a quick 5-0 run to take a 24-18 lead but two quick three-pointers by Utah state near the 16-minute mark would tie the game 24-24 soon after.

Bulldogs reclaimed the lead with a layup from Rolle off an assist by junior Kenneth Cooper for a 26-24 lead with 14:40 left to play in the game.

And while it remained mostly a back-and-forth game the rest of the way, the Aggies, however, would finally begin to pull away near the end and hold on for the 50-37 win.

"They're a very good team," Rupp said. "They're a very veteran team, and they did what it took to win tonight."

Junior Kyle Gibson led all Tech scorers with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Gary Wilkinson led the Aggies with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday, Jan. 10, to take on the Nevada Wolf Pack at 2 p.m. in the Thomas Assembly Center. The game will be broadcast live on KXKZ 107.5 FM locally with a live audio feed also available at www.z1075fm.com.

A video feed can also be purchased for $4.99 by logging onto www.latechtv.com and clicking on the athletics link on the top right portion of the page. Fans can order the game starting one hour prior to tip off.