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Green's buzzer-beater ends USU's 31-game home streak By
Landon Olson Thursday night in the Spectrum, University of California, Irvine, guard Jerry Green showed the Utah State University basketball team why he is the reigning Big West Conference Most Valuable Player. With Irvine trailing 65-66 and 4.8 seconds remaining on the clock, Green slipped free of the Aggie defense to receive the ball on an inbound play. Green took the ball the length of the court, pulling up to hit a 10-foot fade-away jump shot with the buzzer sounding to give Irvine the 67-66 victory. Green said he didn't think he would end up with the ball because the Aggies had him double-teamed at the start of the play. "I got the ball and made the shot," Green said. "I knew it was going in." UCI coach Pat Douglas said Green came through for the team. "Green does not surprise me anymore," Douglas said. Green's buzzer beater shattered Utah State's 31-game home winning streak and let the air out of fired-up crowd that saw the Aggies on the verge of victory. On the previous play, Aggie guard Ronnie Ross drilled a straightaway three-pointer to ignite the crowd and give the Aggies their first lead since 2:09 into the second half. The excitement was short lived though as Ross was screened from Green on the next play, giving Green the opening he needed. USU coach Stew Morrill said the Aggies wanted to double team Green on the last play but they did not execute. "With all the emotion and everything we just didn't execute very well," Morrill said. Ross said, "We just miscommunicated on the last play. We wanted to get the ball out of his [Green's] hands." The last-second shot was typical of what Green did to the Aggies the entire game. Despite the Aggies changing defensively by rotating defenders and double-teaming, Green hit difficult shots from all over the court, fading away or slashing around defenders to get the openings he needed. "I believe that I guarded him well but he was just hitting all kinds of tough shots," Ross said. Green finished with 13 of 20 shooting, including 5 of 8 from three-point range, for a game-high 31 points. Green also dished out five assists in 35 minutes of play. "Jerry Green was obviously spectacular," Morrill said. "We just couldn't get him stopped." Center Adam Parada was the only other Anteater to finish in double digits, scoring 13 points. The Aggies were led by Ross, who had a career-high 20 points to go with five rebounds and five assists. "Ronnie had a great offensive game," Morrill said. "That certainly will help our team if he can gain some confidence from it." Forwards Desmond Penigar and Chad Evans reached double digits as well. Penigar chipped in 14 points and led the Aggies in rebounding with nine. Evans led USU in the first half with nine points and finished the game with 10. The Aggies took a two-point lead early in the game but fell behind by eight before closing to within four, 37-33, at halftime. In the second half the Aggies took the lead briefly, 39-40, but Irvine jumped back out to a 10-point lead after Green scored seven straight points. Utah State's only other lead came after Ross' three-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in the game. Going into the game, Irvine and Utah State were tied at seventh in the country at 49.8 percent shooting. The Aggies out-shot Irvine in the first half, 57.7 percent to 55.6 percent, but fell off in the second half. For the game the Anteaters shot 50.9 percent while the Aggies finished at 45.6 percent. "I have come here [Utah State] and got spanked pretty hard on three occasions," Douglas said. "It feels great going into the locker room not feeling totally dejected because we could not compete." Irvine now sits alone atop the Big West with a 4-0 conference record while the Aggies drop to 3-2. Utah State will continue conference play Saturday against Long Beach State University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at the Spectrum. In the last meeting between the teams, Feb. 17, 2001, the Aggies fell to Long Beach on the road, 56-71. Long Beach is eighth in the Big West at 1-3, and holds a 5-10 record overall, after falling 69-67 Thursday night to the University of Idaho.
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