Jan. 14, 2012
Final Stats | Coach White Postgame Interview | Photo Gallery 
RUSTON, La. - Brockeith Pane scored a career-high 24 points to lead Utah State to a 69-65 win over Louisiana Tech in Western Athletic Conference action before 4,099 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center Saturday night.
The Bulldogs are now 8-10 on the season and 0-3 in conference play as the Aggies improve to 10-8 and 2-2 in the WAC.
Tech opened the game with three consecutive three-pointers to take a 9-0 lead and eventually pushed the advantage to double-digits at 20-8 on a three-point basket by Cordarius Johnson at the 13:12 mark of the first half.
However, Utah State chipped away at the Bulldogs' advantage and cut the deficit to 31-29 at intermission after two free throws from Pane.
The Aggies came out firing in the second half as they scored 12 straight points to take a 41-31 advantage within the first three minutes of the period. Tech answered the call as junior guard Brandon Gibson scored seven points in a 10-0 run as the Bulldogs tied the game at 41-41 with 14:15 remaining.
After the teams continued to trade buckets over the next five minutes, freshman forward Michale Kyser gave Tech their only lead of the second half 51-50 with 9:16 to play on a jumper. Utah State responded with a 15-4 run to pull out to a 65-55 advantage with just over four minutes left on the clock.
Tech made one final run as McNeail's three-pointer from the top of the arc cut the deficit to 66-64 with 39 seconds remaining before Utah State hit 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to win.
McNeail scored a season-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Senior guard Trevor Gaskins and freshman guard Raheem Appleby contributed 10 points each.
Gibson grabbed a team-best seven rebounds while Kyser pulled down five boards in his first career start.
Five assists from freshman guard Kenneth Smith led the Bulldogs and gives him 78 on the year as he inches closer to the program's freshman assist record of 126.
Tech went 24-for-62 from the field and 12-of-29 from beyond the arc while outrebounding the Aggies 39-36.
Preston Medlin and Kyisean Reed scored 11 points apiece to go along with Pane's career-high. Medlin and Reed also had nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Utah State shot 49.1 percent (26-53) for the game including 52 percent (13-25) in the second half.
The Bulldogs return to action Thursday when they travel to face Hawaii.
