Ags avenge defeat to Irvine

Deseret News

IRVINE, Calif. — Ever since he came to Utah State for fall semester, junior-college transfer Desmond Penigar has been harped at by the coaching staff for his faint defense.

Saturday night at a sold-out Bren Center (5,150) on the UC Irvine campus, Penigar made probably the two biggest defensive plays of the night, two blocked shots in the final 1:05, and the Aggies, behind 25 points with just two missed shots from Tony Brown, got a payback win against the Anteaters, 62-61.

The win moved 18-4, 10-3 Utah State into a first-place tie with the defending regular-season-champion Anteaters, who are 17-7, 10-3. The Aggies finished the weekend with their biggest road sweep of the season, having beaten Long Beach State on Thursday night.

They have a five-game win streak and return home for three straight before one final two-game trip to Pacific and Northridge at the end of the month.

USU led by as many as 18 points early in the first half but saw Anteater superstar Jerry Green lead another comeback, almost like he did in Logan when UCI beat the Ags 67-66 on his long-distance layup.

This time, though, the Aggies were able to hold off a furious UCI charge, fueled by 13 Aggie second-half turnovers against a strong Anteater defensive effort. Penigar's block on a Green twisting layup with 17 seconds left may have been the difference because that would have given Irvine a lead.

Forward Brennan Ray's switch-off onto Green from his man, the screener, with just seconds left made Green pass out to Mike Hood for a 3-point attempt that looked good but fell harmlessly into Brown's hands at the buzzer.

Penigar also blocked from behind an easy layup attempt by 7-foot UCI center Adam Parada with 1:05 left. "Yeah, there's a 'D' in my name," said Penigar with a huge grin. "I had to make up something to show the coaches I could play defense at the end." Stew Morrill and his staff had pulled Penigar out of games late in defensive situations, but he stayed in on this night.

Ray said Green's eyes lit up when he stepped out to guard him, but Ray forced him to go parallel to the free-throw line and eventually have to pass with the clock winding out.

USU's whole defense played an outstanding game, holding the Anteaters, who usually shoot 49 percent from the field, to 38 percent. Green shot 2-for-13 from the field but was 12-for-12 on free throws, and his passing skills led to a game-high seven assists. His eighth would have won the game, but Hood was 2-for-7 for the night on threes.

Aggie man-to-man defense was as tight as it could be, refusing catch-and-shoot baskets most of the night. Green, known for his game-winning baskets throughout his career and the No. 24 scorer in the country and UCI career leader, got through the Ags a couple of times into the lane but missed shots. Penigar helped that when Green had one of his easiest basket attempt with 1:05 left.

Meanwhile, Brown had a remarkable first half with 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting, missing only a 3-pointer. He added five more points in the second half to lead all scorers but said USU's offense wasn't executed as well in the second half, so he didn't get as many open looks. "They extended to me more with a bigger guy," Brown said.

"I expected to win both," Brown said of this weekend's unlikely sweep. "Everyone on our team knew we've been getting better; everyone thought we could win them both."

He was especially focused for this game, he said, because he has never been on an Aggie team that was swept in the regular season by any Big West team. He was also determined because he hadn't played especially well in the Jan. 10 game at Logan. Brown was 3-for-11 shooting in that game and totaled nine points with just two assists. "I wasn't myself in Logan," he said. "I was trying to be aggressive this time.

"We talked about what we didn't do in Logan," he said of himself and his teammates prior to Saturday's game. They let Irvine shoot 51 percent. The 'Eaters still won by only one, Brown said, so the Aggies figured if they cut that percentage Saturday, it could make a huge difference.

They held UCI to 32 percent shooting in the first half, 38 for the game, while making 48 percent of their shots, though only Brown and guard Ronnie Ross (3-for-6) were at 50 percent or better. Irvine came into the game as the nation's No. 4 shooting team, averaging 49 percent.

USU hosts last-place Fullerton on Thursday in another shot for revenge. USU lost to the Titans Jan. 19. It was Fullerton's lone conference victory.