PCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Utah St. Overcomes Three-Year Pattern

Utah State had lost its first game in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. basketball tournament in each of the past three years. Considering that the Aggies hadn’t been seeded higher than fourth in those tournaments, it was not terribly surprising.

This year, Utah State is seeded second, but for a time Thursday against San Jose State, it looked as if its season would end as it had before.

Instead, Utah State rallied and came away with an 80-72 victory over seventh-seeded San Jose State in a quarterfinal game at the Forum.

The Aggies (19-9) won despite shooting very poorly in the first half, making 9 of 29 shots (31%). They fell behind by as many as seven points and trailed, 41-38, at halftime.

But in the second half, Utah State scored the first six points, and San Jose State didn’t manage its first basket until four minutes had passed.

The Aggies shot a more respectable 57% in the second half, and made 32 of 41 free throws in the game.

Dan Conway scored a career-high 28 points for the Aggies, and Reid Newey added 22, including 4 of 6 three-pointers.

Ricky Berry, the Spartans’ 6-foot 8-inch guard who had a career-high 36 points in a first-round victory over the University of the Pacific Wednesday night, finished with 18 points, making 6 of 19 shots, including 2 three-pointers.

San Jose State (14-15) cut a lead that had been as large as seven, coming back to take a three-point lead with four minutes remaining. But Kevin Nixon made two free throws to give Utah State a 73-72 lead with 2:15 left, and Newey added an 18-foot jumper with 1:20 left.