There was a brief moment when Larry Eustachy might have regretted Utah State's hat trick of good fortune Thursday night: When he saw his athletic director galloping crazily upcourt in cowboy boots, doing a dosi-do with the coach's wife, Stacy, then bearing down on him, obviously ready to leap into the still-ill Eustachy's arms.
Eustachy, losing a two-month battle with bronchitis, caught Chuck Bell without falling over backward. Whew! Then he lifted Stacy in a bearhug, too.Twenty minutes earlier, USU took care of business with an 89-69 win over San Jose State in the Spectrum to give the Aggies their first 20-win season in seven years and only the 12th in school history. USU is 20-6, 13-4.
But what cut the celebration loose was late news that New Mexico State (12-5) beat Long Beach State (13-4).
That put USU back in a first-place tie and gave it control of its destiny again. Because of BWC tiebreakers, Utah State need only win Saturday night's home finale with 14-11, 9-8 Pacific to gain its first Big West regular-season title since 1980.
USU and LBS split, so if they tie the title comes down to success vs. No. 3 NMSU. USU split; the 49ers lost both.
The Ags came back from last week's loss at Reno with what Eustachy said, "Might have been our best game."
Enter Part 3 of USU's hat trick: Silas Mills had his best game. "Silas has never played basketball like that for 40 minutes," Eustachy said.
Mills had his fourth straight double-double with 20 points (8-for-11 shooting) and 11 rebounds and narrowly missed a triple-double with eight assists.
"He got offensive rebounds (five), he was guarding, he was defending," said Eustachy. "I challenged him at the half to put together two good halves."
"I like it. I'm happy," said Mills after a lively night deflecting Spartan passes and getting loose balls while making his season high in pretty passes. "I like watching John Stockton. The more you pass, the better player you'll be," he said. "I like to give it up."
Mills said assistant Kermit Davis hounds him for offensive rebounds. "He told me my game would come to another level if I get offensive rebounds," said Mills. "He's been telling me that all year, but I was being hard-headed."
Till Thursday, when Mr. Complete Game gave future foes another dimension to prepare for. Most try to stop big-game threats Eric Franson (17 points Thursday) and Corwin Woodard ; now they must consider Mills, too.
Franson, who had a second straight off-night with his worst shooting (4-for-12) of the season and six rebounds, cared not because of the win. "If he (Mills) gets 'em (boards) all, I don't care, as long as our team gets them," he said. "He was up there big-time."
"They hammered us on the boards (39-23)," said SJSU coach Stan Morrison. His 3-14, 4-21 team lost a three-game win streak that saw wins vs. NMSU and UNLV.
USU had 21 assists, 11 turnovers and 23 of 27 free throws. "We're playing our best of the year. That's all you can ask," said Eustachy. "It's great to get 20 wins. You just don't win 20 anymore," he said.
Mills fueled a run that put USU up 17-8 with a spectacular one-handed dunk on an 'oop from Covington Cormier (six assists) as Spartan Mike Brotherton (10 points, three rebounds) undercut him. Mills hit the free throw, then tipped in a Franson miss. With Mills adding four more and Woodard hitting two threes, USU got to 29-10.
San Jose trimmed to eight on a six-point swing when Eustachy got a technical after a Brad Quinet layin, complaining Woodard was fouled on the previous shot try. Quinet hit the techs and Brotherton a rebound basket on the possession. The Spartans got four of the next six points to make it 40-34, but USU began pulling away before the half (44-34) and was never threatened.