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Las Vegas • Utah State coach Tim Duryea rolled the dice Wednesday in the opening round of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
Jackpot.
Looking for a way to match-up with Wyoming star Josh Adams, Duryea moved junior point guard Shane Rector into the starting lineup. He replaced senior Darius Perkins, who had started 60 straight games during his career.
The gamble paid off. Not only did Rector help limit Adams to 18 points on 4-for-17 shooting, he scored a season-high 24 points as Utah State rolled to an 88-70 win at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Aggies [16-14] advanced to the tournament quarterfinals Thursday against top-seeded San Diego State.
"Really, really proud of my guys and pleased with the performance," Duryea said. "… We got off to a good start and just kept it going."
Before the game, Duryea didn't mention he planned to start Rector in place of Perkins "… because I wasn't 100 percent sure I was actually going to go through with it.
"Darius has started every game for almost two years but I thought Shane — athletically — had the best chance to match-up — quickness-wise — with Josh. He's so hard to handle in the open floor."
Rector's 24 points were the most by an Aggie in a tournament game since Jared Quayle had 25 in 2010. His 35 minutes and six rebounds were also season-highs.
"I just wanted to help the team win," Rector said. "[Duryea] let me start today so I knew there was more on me to get the game started. … I was being aggressive, just like coach told me."
With Rector directing the offense, Utah State jumped on the Cowboys fast. Utah State hit its first four shots, including 3-pointers by Chris Smith and Jalen Moore. The Aggies stretched an 8-0 lead to 41-16 with 6:52 left in the first half.
"I was really proud that we came out and executed against their zone," Duryea said. "It's been awhile since we've seen a zone but our guys really moved the ball, made the extra pass and knocked down shots."
It took Adams nearly nine minutes to score.
"You know, he's is a great player," Rector said. "I just tried to get into him as much as I could — make him take some tough shots — and that's what we did. He still ended up with 18, but I think we did a pretty good job on him as a team."
Utah State owned a 47-30 lead at halftime before Wyoming rallied. It was 55-47 with 12:18 left when, on consecutive possessions, Moore nailed a 17-footer and buried a 3-pointer to help the Aggies regain control.
"I was thrilled to see him step up," Duryea said. "That's one thing we've been missing all year long. We're kind of an equal opportunity team. We don't have that one guy we play through. We really don't have that closer. … But I saw Jalen with a really calm look in his eye. He jumped up and knocked them down — the two biggest shots of the game."
Twitter: @sluhm —
Storylines
R Shane Rector scores 24 points to lead Utah State to an 88-70 victory over Wyoming.
• Chris Smith contributes 20 points and Jalen Moore adds 19 as the Aggies advance to the quarterfinals against San Diego State on Thursday.
• Wyoming star Josh Adams scores 18 points to lead the Cowboys, on just 4 for 17 from the field.