Pacific Pacific/Utah State Utah State Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

They defended their Big West Conference tournament title with a 50-38 victory over Pacific on Saturday night and earned a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Aggies (27-5) became the first team to repeat as conference champions since UNLV won three straight from 1989-91.

"To be able to repeat is something awfully special," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "There were some challenges this year with all the expectations in our community and around the league. It was like we were supposed to win every game."

Last year, Utah State lost to Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA tourney. The Aggies will make their first back-to-back NCAA tourney appearances since 1979 and '80.

"We hope we can go make some noise in the tourney," Morrill said.

Dion Bailey scored 14 points for the Aggies, who had Bernard Rock, Shawn Daniels and Curtis Bobb named to the all-tourney team. Rock was chosen most valuable player.

It was the lowest-scoring championship game in Big West history, and the fewest points ever scored by the winning and losing teams.

"At times, the game looked very, very ugly," Morrill said, "but both teams were defending very well."

Pacific (18-12), the fifth seed, reached the title game by upsetting No. 1 seed UC Irvine in the semifinals. But aside from a five-point lead to start the game, the Tigers couldn't muster much offense in losing for the fourth time in a row to Utah State.

"They really pressured us well," Pacific coach Bob Thomason said. "They're so physical. They force you to put the ball on the floor and we didn't do it very well."

Once again, defense was key to the second-seeded Aggies' success. For the second year in a row, they held all three opponents to under 40 percent shooting. Cal State-Fullerton shot 30.5 percent, Boise State shot 36.2 percent and Pacific was held to 33.3 percent.

For the first time since 1949-50, the Aggies held opponents to fewer than 50 points in three consecutive games.

"They were really awesome," Thomason said.

The Tigers scored the first six points of the second half to get within four points. But Utah State put together a 16-5 run, including six by Daniels and consecutive 3-pointers from Rock and Bobb, to go up 41-26 with 6:44 remaining.

"We got some open looks and they put so much stress on you," Thomason said. "We wanted to get on Rock and not let him shoot 3s. He got loose and that really hurt us. Their putbacks kept them in the lead."

Rock added 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Daniels had 10 rebounds as Utah State led on the boards 33-32.

Pacific was led by Peter Heizer, who scored 16 points, including his team's final nine.

"They were denying me the ball the entire game," said Heizer, the Tigers' only senior. "When I did get it, I was 25-30 feet from the basket and it's tough to go around them."

Tied early in the game, the Aggies used a 16-6 run to end the first half ahead 25-15. Bailey started the spurt by scoring six straight points as Pacific was forced into nine of its 22 turnovers.

The previous fewest points scored in a title game was 100. Fresno State beat UNLV 51-49 in 1984, and Fresno State defeated San Jose State 52-48 in 1981.

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Pacific Clubhouse

Utah State Clubhouse

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Utah State repeats as Big West champions.
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