Logan, Utah-----San Jose State came back from a first-half double-digit deficit, but was unable to repeat it in the second half and Utah State powered its way past the Spartans, 77-58, in a Western Athletic Conference men's basketball game.

           "They did a great job defensively on us in the second half. Utah State is a very physical team. They moved us out of the spaces where we wanted to be. They moved us away from the goal very effectively," said San Jose State coach George Nessman about the Aggies defense that resulted in the Spartans' lowest point production of the season. San Jose State made just six baskets and shot 21 percent from the field after halftime.

            Aggies' center Nate Bendall had his best night of the season scoring a career-high 20 points and matched his career best of 17 rebounds. Reserve forward Brady Jardine also contributed a career scoring high with 17 points. Bendall and Jardine more than offset the six points scored by Utah State's leading scorer, power forward Tai Wesley, who found himself in first-half foul difficulty.

            Utah State (16-6, 6-2 WAC) led 39-36 at intermission and won its sixth game in a row with the inside play of Bendall and Jardine and another sharp night from the perimeter. The Aggies made 9-of-18 from 3-point range and shot 54.2 percent overall for the game. Utah State came into the game eighth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.1 percent, right behind San Jose State's 41.3 percent.

            "Well, it was a really good second for us. We played awfully good basketball in the second half, offensively and defensively. San Jose State is a very capable team. You saw that in the first half. We couldn't stop them," said Utah State coach Stew Morrill, whose team limited the Spartans to one basket and outscored San Jose State, 11-4 in the first five minutes of the second half. "That's mainly what we focused on at halftime, getting our defense better and acting like we are leading the league defensively."

            Adrian Oliver led the Spartans (12-9, 5-4 WAC) in scoring with 19 points, but was only 5-of-16 from the field. Mac Peterson scored all 11 of his points in the first half helping San Jose State wipe out three Utah State 10-point leads. The Spartans took their only lead of the game, 38-36, on a Justin Graham drive to the basket with 1:58 remaining.

            "We had a hard time executing our offense in the second half. We did a good real good job of it in the first half. We didn't turn it over," said Nessman, whose team made 54.2 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes as their three-game winning streak came to an end. "The way the second half started, they made a couple of baskets. That gave them a little bit of a bulge and I sensed their confidence rising at that point. When you're down eight or nine here, it's a tough climb.

            "They're physicality really disrupted our four-guard alignment. Our physical effort was tremendous. We played to exhaustion. It wasn't a lack of effort. They were the better team in the second half."

            San Jose State, 7-of-23 from three-point territory, was charged with just eight turnovers, but was outrebounded by Utah State, 32-27.