Another ugly one, but Aggies win again

There's that old saying that says, "You've gotta slay a few dragons before you can finally rescue the princess." Put plainly, it's referring to hooking up with girls you wouldn't brag to anyone about before eventually finding that one gem to settle down with.

That's how I'm hoping things are going for this Aggie basketball team right now. They just keep knocking out these ugly victories, but eventually things are going to get a whole lot prettier.

In their defense, last year the team was losing a handful of these ugly games. To be 10-1, even if you haven't really tackled any titans, is still a very good record to be sitting on. Much like my feeling was prior to the Gossner's tournament, this team still looks like a group of very talented basketball players who have yet to really come together as a cohesive unit.

They've shown flashes, and I don't think I was alone in hoping that the win against Southern Illinois would be a sign of better things to come. That very well could be the case still and they just had another struggle on the road. Again though, 3-0 on the road now. That's something to be happy about, especially since one of those was against a Santa Clara team who hung around against the No. 1 team in the country over at Cameron Indoor on Saturday morning.

UTSA did well against the Aggies in three areas that will make USU vulnerable this year. The Roadrunners limited their turnovers, out-rebounded USU, and shot the 3-pointer at least fairly well. Defensively, the Aggies really do need to improve on forcing turnovers and defending the deep ball. They've proven plenty in the rebounding department this year, and relied on it heavily too. So when they didn't have one of the team's biggest advantages working for them, still getting that road win is big.

As it looks right now, any one of the Aggies' starters is capable of taking over a game. If the team can get some more cohesion between them moving forward, they could be really good. They're running out of time though before the schedule really catches up to them and they've got to face some really tough teams in games that will hold major impacts on the WAC standings.

NOTES

• 3-point defense really was pretty sub-par Saturday. There were a couple of times where it seemed like multiple guys got lost defensively, resulting in a wide-open look from deep for the Roadrunners. This is something I'm really hoping Stew tackles hard in practice this coming week.
   
• Spencer Butterfield is straight-up AWESOME!!! Dude shot 6-7 from the field for 14 points, pulled down seven rebounds, and hit a ballsy 3-pointer that basically iced this game.
• Both Marcel Davis and Kyisean Reed used their athleticism and speed on multiple occasions to drive in and make things happen offensively. This is the kind of thing I really hope we see more of going forward because they've got the ability to do that against most any team.
• Free throw shooting was the main reason this was even close... 10-21 from the foul line will lose most any close game for you. Aggies are lucky to come out with a win after that.
• Hate to single a guy out, but given the man-crush from last season on Ben Clifford, it's tough to see him struggle as badly as he has been. He only has eight total points scored over the last seven games and has just not been able to make things happen like he did at many times last season. The bench could badly use a return to at least last season's form from him.
• Speaking of the bench... They combined for only seven points, three rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, zero blocks and five turnovers... Swear words on that one.
• Worst performance of the night easily goes to the UTSA scoreboard though... What a freakin piece of garbage that thing was!! Definitely amateur hour for the WAC's n00bs.

Player of the Game: Preston Medlin

Man this dude can freaking ball!!! Preston Medlin seems to have put that slow start fully behind him and is got his offensive swagger back to where it was last season. He went off for 24 points on 9-15 shooting from the field, hit 3-7 from behind the 3-point line, and was the only Aggie to shoot better than 50 percent from the free throw line. This team needs a go-to scorer who can do it from inside or out, and Medlin was exactly that on Saturday.