Vs Nevada. Front Court bigs made a difference in second half. Gary Wilkinson, conference player of the year is 2 years older than Labron at 26 year old senior. He plays loose and that seems to rub off on rest of team. Utah State 6th trip in 10 years. Nevada shot 2-24 to start game. Utah State was allowing Nevada to bang offensive boards constantly to recover from 18 point first half deficit. Finished season 30-4 by winning on Nevada’s home floor. Lost bracket buster to St Mary’s in February by 11. Wilkins led team in scoring 12 times this year. They shoot decent from perimeter (39.9% on year) and 75% from ft line. Gutted out a couple good wins in this tourney. Beat New Mexico State by 1 in semi. Non conference schedule weak. Nevada’s offense was terrible but in an effort to come back they started applying pressure with about 6 minutes to go. Utah State struggled with this a bit. I think a team that presses well could really disrupt them. Also put a team with the ability to collapse on Wilkinson or take him out of his game, Gary Wilkinson scored 21 points and Jared Quayle and Tai Wesley each had double-doubles to help Utah State win the tournament championship over Nevada. Anouncers felt they could get anywhere from 10-12 seed and could easily win a game. I think their only chance is if they don’t play an up tempo team or a team that rebounds especially well.
