Aggies shake off the rust after long layoff

In the case of Danny Berger, it was "Welcome back to the outside world."

In the case of Marcel Davis, it was "Welcome to the show!"

Saturday was USU's first game in 10 days, and the rust was obvious early on. The Aggies turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions, and just looked completely out of sync. Given the long layoff from the court, mixed in with a little bit of trauma and missed practice time, that is all really understandable.

While the Aggies were struggling to score, especially in the paint early on, Western Oregon was hitting shots, forcing the action to do what they wanted, and just all-around making things difficult... We knew that couldn't last long though, and it didn't once the second half got started.

Really this game is summed up in a simple way... First half, sloppy. Second half, crisp and dominant. Final outcome, inevitable.

The team clearly had some emotions running from everything this whole week, and once they shook the rust off, Western Oregon was dead in the water.

For what it's worth, it made for a pretty exciting second half after a pretty dull first frame. I was worried that we might have been in store for another free throw contest like we had against Weber State after Western Oregon got their 7th team foul with around 15:30 remaining in the second half, but they didn't foul the Aggies again until there was under one minute left. Kinda an incredible stat right there.

The rest, can be summed up in bullet points...

NOTES

• He might have had the slowest start to the game, but when the team needed points, Preston Medlin was able to come through. The urgency obviously lessened quite a bit in the second half, but he still was killin it out there. Nice that he only had to play 30 minutes too to keep his total mileage down as this season progresses.
• Spencer Butterfield filled that starting role quite nicely!! That dude's motor is amazing, and on both ends of the floor too. He finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Off the top of my head, that's the closest to a triple-double anyone has come since Tai Wesley a few years back (too lazy to look up exactly which game, but gut says it was against Weber State in 2010-11)((*EDIT - Ok, I looked it up... It was Weber State in 2008-09, and Wesley only missed it by one assist)). He also had a block and a steal. If there was any challenge issued to him to step up in Berger's absence, he sure as hell answered the call.
• Speaking of that, if Marvin Jean was challenged to fill Butterfield's role as the ace off the bench, he sure as hell answered the call. He played a season-high 18 minutes, scored eight points, dished three assists, along with a block and a rebound. Dude's potential is still through the roof, and it's going to be exciting to see where his game goes.
• Early on it seemed like Jarred Shaw couldn't get anything going in the paint, but was still hitting that mid-range jumper he's got. Later on, he just hit everything, scoring 15 points on the game with eight rebounds. Shaw, Kyisean Reed, and Butterfield alone held a 25-21 edge in rebounding over Western Oregon. As a team, USU was +22 on the boards.
• Quincy Bair had his redshirt officially burned, and much like the case with the exhibition games, an "incomplete" grade is all we can get. Still waiting for him to get a chance to actually show what he can do this season. Didn't get that Saturday, but for when that time comes, hopefully he'll be ready.
• This was a game where it would have been nice to see Ben Clifford and Jordan Stone really go and get theirs down low... Not so much the case though. It's gonna be interesting to see where Matt Lopez fits into the rotation moving forward. The competition can't hurt right?
• Speaking of competition, Tenale Roland has plenty of it now. The point guard battle has suddenly gotten REALLY interesting. Roland had a solid outing against Santa Clara, but was just ok against Western Oregon. Still nice to see four assists and zero turnovers... As for the other point guard....

Player of the Game: Marcel Davis

Watching him play in high school, Marcel Davis had a stellar mix of skill, hustle, court-vision, savvy, and plenty of other intangibles. Saturday, he brought that to the next level. He completely carved up the Western Oregon defense from inside and out to the tune of 21 points, five rebounds and three assists on 9-11 shooting. It was a masterful performance, a thrill to watch, and brings plenty of excitement for the future. Dude could be crazy good, and we got our first taste of that potential turning into production on Saturday night.