When Utah State kicked off its Big West Conference basketball season at 2-0 in Logan, Aggie center Nate Wickizer was the big factor in their second win, the one over San Jose State. The 7-footer had the biggest game of his career with 33 points (10-for-12 shooting) and eight rebounds, and USU had a 57-48 win.
Now it's time for the return match, and Wickizer and his runningmate at forward, Eric Franson, may be the critical factors again. Neither played well (Wickizer eight points, three rebounds; Franson nine points, four rebounds) in Saturday's home loss to Santa Barbara that broke USU's five-game win streak."We must re-establish our inside game if we're going to have a chance to win," says Aggie coach Larry Eustachy, who takes his 11-12, 8-7 team into the San Jose Event Center for an 8:35 MST game tonight against the 12-10, 8-6 Spartans. San Jose is coming off consecutive losses at Long Beach and at home against Pacific to end a four-game win streak.
"You saw what happened to this team when it had to rely on its perimeter game against UC-Santa Barbara," Eustachy said. "We must pound the ball into the post and get to the free-throw line if we're going to pull off a win."
The Spartans have improved since the Ags last played them. "The insertion of Darren Greene (5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds) into the starting lineup gives San Jose's frontcourt a more athletic look," Eustachy says. "Both Terry Cannon (15.5, 3.0) and Jason Allen (12.2, 3.3) have increased their offensive production during the second half of the season, and coach (Stan) Morrison has been getting some quality minutes from his bench."
The Aggies play at Pacific Saturday.