Aggies Blitz 49ers with 95-61 Victory

Spencer Nelson scored 21 points and added nine rebounds to lead Utah State to an easy 95-61 victory against Long Beach State in Big West Conference basketball action Saturday night.

USU improved to 18-6 overall and 9-4 in conference play, while LBSU fell to 4-18 and 3-10.

Four Aggies scored in double figures as Utah State's 95 points were its most in a game since beating Western State 99-43 in the 2002 season and its most points in a Big West game since defeating Cal Poly 97-73 in the 1999 campaign.

Cardell Butler scored 17 points for USU, while Ronnie Ross added 11 and Toraino Johnson chipped in 10. Mike Puzey led the Aggies in rebounding with 10. Freshman point guard Jibril Hodges led Long Beach State with 17 points, while Vance Lawhorn added 14 and Kevin Roberts chipped in 13.

Nelson hit eight-of-11 shots from the field en route to his career scoring high. His previous best had been 17 points at Hawai'i-Hilo earlier this season. He also added two assists in just 18 minutes of play.

USU built up a 10-point lead midway through the first half as a Cardell Butler dunk gave the Aggies a 22-12 lead. USU pushed the lead to 19 points, leading 49-30 at halftime.

Wth the score 55-38 early in the second half, USU went on a 20-5 run to push the margin to 75-43 with 10:10 left in the game.

USU out-rebounded the 49ers 45-25 and shot an even 50 percent from the field. LBSU hit only 41.5 percent of its shots while committing 15 turnovers, which USU turned into 20 points. The Aggie bench outscored LBSU's bench 40-9.

Utah State will travel to Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside next week as the team battles for the top spot in the Big West Conference.