LOGAN -- Aggie fans have thought Utah State would turn the corner of mediocrity several times earlier this season. After USU's 82-65 victory at the Smith Spectrum Saturday night against San Jose State, perhaps the faithful can display such belief one more time.
A stunning Preston Medlin-to-Brockeith Pane alley-oop with 6:48 proved to put too much chink in the Spartans' armor, restoring the USU lead back to double-digits at 69-59. The emphatic finish to a run that began with a Morgan Grim steal well-represented the Aggies' personality during the game: assertive, aggressive, strong and stylish. USU coach Stew Morrill called it "open and free."
Regardless of the adjective, the winningest coach in USU history liked what he saw.
"I liked the energy that we played with. Our guys were having fun playing basketball," Morrill said. "I wouldn't call having fun the one key to being successful during our last games of the season, but it's one of those reasons, quite frankly, why we did what we needed to do. We held home court."
Morrill would later add that the fun nature of the team, regardless of who was on the floor, and the open space the up-and-down game afforded allowed forward Kyisean Reed to score more than 20 points for the second time in the season. The 6-foot-6 junior scored 21 points, including 15 from five old-fashioned three-point plays, and grabbed eight rebounds. His performance only arguably overshadowed those of Mitch Bruneel, whose 12 of his career-high 15 points came in a less than four-minute span in the first half. During that span, the sophomore connected from distance four consecutive times, igniting the sellout crowd and driving the Aggies to a season-high 47-point first half total.
The hot-handed display came in response Thursday's contest against Hawaii in which Morrill didn't play Bruneel, who started seven of the first 10 games of the season.
"To be honest, I'm really only unhappy if we don't win," Bruneel said when asked if he has been frustrated with his declining minutes. "Coach just said to be ready and be confident, so I figured whatever minutes I could get I would just play hard and do my best. I took a few shots after shoot-around today and I think that helped my confidence a little bit. We focused on moving the ball around when they were playing that zone."
San Jose State deployed a unique mix between a man and zone, often starting on defense in a 2-3 position before matching up once Pane or backup guard E.J. Farris brought the ball as near as the top of the key.
Pane contributed to Bruneel's first half bombs with three of his own in the first 12 minutes of the game. The senior point guard, who entered the contest shooting less than 30 percent from beyond the arc, converted 3-of-5 3-point attempts en route to scoring 15 points, while dishing six assists. The Aggies shot 10-21 from distance while San Jose State registered a 5-22 clip.
"We've practiced well lately. That helped us get a nice spurt to begin and that was the difference," Morrill said. "Now we head out on the road again."
The Aggies will be in Reno Thursday to face WAC leader Nevada (18-3, 7-0). Tipoff is at 8 p.m.
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