ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Utah State put plenty of pressure on its opponents
all season. The Aggies were feeling lots of heat, too.
They defended their Big West Conference Tournament title with a 50-38
victory over Pacific Saturday night and earned a return trip to the NCAA
Tournament.
The Aggies (27-5) became the first team to repeat as conference champions
since UNLV won three straight from 1989-91.
"To be able to repeat is something awfully special," Utah State coach Stew
Morrill said. "There were some challenges this year with all the expectations
in our community and around the league. It was like we were supposed to win
every game."
Last year, Utah State lost to Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA
tourney. The Aggies will make their first back-to-back NCAA tourney appearances
since 1979 and '80.
"We hope we can go make some noise in the tourney," Morrill said.
Dion Bailey scored 14 points for the Aggies, who had Bernard Rock, Shawn
Daniels and Curtis Bobb named to the all-tourney team. Rock was chosen most
valuable player.
It was the lowest-scoring championship game in Big West history, and the
fewest points ever scored by the winning and losing teams.
"At times, the game looked very, very ugly," Morrill said, "but both
teams were defending very well."
Pacific (18-12), the fifth seed, reached the title game by upsetting No. 1
seed UC Irvine in the semifinals. But aside from a five-point lead to start the
game, the Tigers couldn't muster much offense in losing for the fourth time in
a row to Utah State.
"They really pressured us well," Pacific coach Bob Thomason said.
"They're so physical. They force you to put the ball on the floor and we
didn't do it very well."
Once again, defense was key to the second-seeded Aggies' success. For the
second year in a row, they held all three opponents to under 40 percent
shooting. Cal State-Fullerton shot 30.5 percent, Boise State shot 36.2 percent
and Pacific was held to 33.3 percent.
For the first time since 1949-50, the Aggies held opponents to fewer than 50
points in three consecutive games.
"They were really awesome," Thomason said.
The Tigers scored the first six points of the second half to get within four
points. But Utah State put together a 16-5 run, including six by Daniels and
consecutive 3-pointers from Rock and Bobb, to go up 41-26 with 6:44 remaining.
"We got some open looks and they put so much stress on you," Thomason
said. "We wanted to get on Rock and not let him shoot 3s. He got loose and
that really hurt us. Their putbacks kept them in the lead."
Rock added 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Daniels had 10 rebounds as
Utah State led on the boards 33-32.
Pacific was led by Peter Heizer, who scored 16 points, including his team's
final nine.
"They were denying me the ball the entire game," said Heizer, the Tigers'
only senior. "When I did get it, I was 25-30 feet from the basket and it's
tough to go around them."
Tied early in the game, the Aggies used a 16-6 run to end the first half
ahead 25-15. Bailey started the spurt by scoring six straight points as Pacific
was forced into nine of its 22 turnovers.
The previous fewest points scored in a title game was 100. Fresno State beat
UNLV 51-49 in 1984, and Fresno State defeated San Jose State 52-48 in 1981.
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