Final Four!!! Final Four!!! Aggies win, 77-69

This ad was fitting to be gracing the front page of the USU Athletics website!

Before saying anything else, let me just say, "free throws!"

In a season where missed free throws have haunted the Aggies in close games, and when the team is shooting worse from the charity stripe as any other USU team since 2005, USU kicked that trend to the curb tonight in the best of ways. The Aggies made 32-of-35 free throws tonight, which was nearly 20 percent better than the team's season average, and eventually the difference in the game.

USU was also solid on the boards, grabbing 43 rebounds in the game. When all was said and done, they needed every one of them. The Aggies gave up a season-high 22 turnovers, while having just 14 assists,  but luckily LMU turned the ball over 19 times.

The free throws were still the big one though, and what made those possible was USU's aggressiveness in attacking the rim and driving into the lane when looks from deep weren't there. Preston Medlin got into chucker mode for a tiny bit in the second half, but for the most part, he was pure grit on the offensive end, driving to the basket and drawing fouls with what seemed to be total ease.

All in all, USU just found a way to win this game. Loyola Marymount had some very good athletes, some really good shooters and a "never say die" mentality. Even when USU went up 16 in the second half, LMU kept fighting their way back, bringing the game as close as four points before the meltdown from its coaching staff.

THE SHAKEDOWN

This game was chippy, no doubt. The officiating was a little bit odd at times, but consistent I felt like, and if the officiating is consistent, nobody is really getting jobbed. Browsing the interwebz, I've seen both LMU and USU fans believing they got jobbed by the officiating. While I might have made a call or two differently, I don't think it was playing favorites.

Some say the refs let things get out of control with the whole situation of LMU's guy falling onto Preston Medlin. I say they handled it pretty well! How it was the coaches and not the player getting the first technical foul, I don't know. From there though, the officials went to the monitor, gave the teams time for emotions to cool off, and kept a chippy situation from getting heightened even more.

Then, as things were winding down, another LMU assistant coach ran his mouth a little more after things should have blown over, and that's where the second technical foul came from. After that, the Lions seemed mostly deflated.

sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!!

What I wouldn't give to see USU athletics whip up a short commercial in the same light as every monster truck rally commercial ever (and as always, kids' tickets are just FIVE BUCKS!!!)

Won't happen though. So we'll have to stick with the whole, "Come to the Fireside at The Spectrum" gig. No doubt, Sunday's game will have a much more sparse attendance than Wednesday's, but that didn't stop USU against CSUB or Idaho. Also, when the crowd is small, that makes things that much more personal between the visitors' bench and section F.

Still, if missing some of church is what you'd have to do to come to the game, DO IT!!! If I can bear to miss seeing a band I've been dying to see in concert for a damn long time like I did tonight, you can miss a little bit of church. Church will be back next week. The Wonder Years in concert? Might not be back for a while. I made that sacrifice for the Aggies dammit!!! YOU CAN TOO!!!!

FINAL (FOUR) THOUGHT

The fire that this Aggie team has shown thus far in this tournament is absolutely a thing of beauty!!! Maybe it was the Man Challenge I issued them, or maybe it was the chance to truly make something memorable and exciting about this season. A CIT championship in our long-dreaded "down year" accomplish and live up to everything challenged of them.

Earlier in the year, myself and plenty others criticized this team for looking like they had no fire or passion in their game. Now, it couldn't be more of the opposite!

This Aggie team cares about making something out of this, and it has completely changed my opinion of them into something favorable.

Three down, two to go! #ManChallenge


NOTES

• A quarter of Ben Clifford's total turnovers on the season came in tonight's game, with seven of those. Still, he had two blocks, two steals, seven points and a team-high nine rebounds. Kid's got one heck of a bright future!
• Morgan Grim was awesome tonight! 16 points, eight boards, two assists, two blocks, one steal and only one turnover, all on 7-of-9 shooting! Hell of a game!
• Kyisean Reed seemed to get all of the foul calls among the USU big men playing big down low. There were a few times where I was shocked Clifford didn't get a foul called on him, but Reed made up for all of that with some tough calls on him. Still, his put-back dunk in the second half was a huge momentum turning point for USU. They only gave up one more LMU score in the final five minutes of the half, while finishing on a 7-0 run.
• One of either Danny Berger or Mitch Bruneel is due for a big game. Jordan Stone also had arguably his least productive game in a while... Now wouldn't it be ironic if these three guys all stepped up huge on Sunday being the ones who are the returned missionaries on the team? Let's hope so!
• Oh, and that Medlin kid is pretty freaking good still! His shots from the field weren't falling, but he kept finding ways to score. Eight rebounds and three assists to go along with 26 points is good enough by me to more than make up for six turnovers.
• Then there's Brockeith Pane... In the past few games, it's really shown how valuable he can be, and is to this team. His ability is crazy good when he gets going. And for him to go 4-for-4 on those technical free throws was a back breaker for LMU.
• As has been the case with this tournament so far, it's been a team-effort every time out. The big men are playing big, the guards are scoring like mad and the defense has been fierce!

 Player of the Game: The Utah State Aggies