LOGAN — For 20 minutes in Wednesday's game against NAIA foe Montana Western, everything went right for Utah State.
The Aggies were up 44-25 at the break, on their way to an eventual 100-66 victory. Then came halftime, and Tai Wesley did the unthinkable going up for a dunk in the layup line: He shattered the backboard.
"Same halftime, same halftime warm-up, broke the backboard," Wesley said matter-of-factly after the game.
The injury to the backboard caused a 45-minute delay, as the Utah State facilities crew worked to replace the glass, only to have the replacement backboard crack while trying to attach it to the basket standard. In the end, Utah State was forced to wheel out one of the practice hoops to finish the game.
"I always dunk two times before the refs come out, and the second time I swung and I heard something and had something hit me in the face," Wesley said. "I felt like I was in trouble, but then I celebrated. It's my first backboard I've ever broken."
Wesley was so proud of the accomplishment that he campaigned for the university to give him the backboard during the postgame press conference.
"I hope the school will give it to me," Wesley said. "I would love to have that backboard."
Even with a new rim that Wesley described as "awful," the Aggies could not be stopped. Utah State shot a blistering 56.9 percent for the game, including a 13-of-22 performance from beyond the arc. It was the first time that Utah State scored 100 points since Nov. 26, 2005, when they scored 102 points against Lewis & Clark College
"That game served its purpose," USU head coach Stew Morrill of this win. "We did not need to have two weeks with only one game and just be laboring in terms of practice. We played within ourselves pretty well. A lot of guys got to play. We shot the ball well. It served his purpose."
Eleven of the 12 Aggies made baskets, with only starting point guard Brockeith Pane left out of the scoring column.
Afterwards, though, all anybody wanted to talk about was the backboard.
"I've never had a backboard broken in 25 years as a head coach ... let alone two," Morrill said. "I wasn't there when either one happened. I had one broken when I was an assistant during a game. From all reports, it wasn't a hang on the rim, it was just a throw-down dunk. The backboard must have been ready to break."
"It was an interesting night; something like that has never happened in my basketball career," Brian Green said. "It really wasn't fun. I don't know how Tai Wesley did that, but it was a long wait."
Green officially ended any sort of slump that he had been in with a 20-point night to lead all scorers.
"We wanted to come out and play hard and get better as a team," Green said.
"It was good that we had tonight's game to help us get ready for our game Saturday (at Saint Mary's). It was really nice to come out and hit some shots. I felt like I was in rhythm and got some good looks at the hoop tonight."