GAME NOTES: The oldest rivalry in the Beehive State is renewed yet again on Tuesday night, as the Utah State Aggies host the BYU Cougars at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Since winning the first three games of the season, the Aggies have hit a bit of a snag in the schedule, dropping consecutive outings. The team first bowed to Mississippi State on the road back on Nov. 22 and then went to overtime before being turned away at UC Davis a little less than a week ago in a 77-70 final.

As for the Cougars, they've gone from winning three in a row to open the campaign to alternating wins and losses the last four outings. The squad is one of the highest-scoring in the nation thus far, putting up no less than 85 in a game, although that particular outing turned out to be a two-point loss versus Purdue last week.

Over the weekend, BYU rebounding by taking out Eastern Kentucky at home, 90-76. Both defeats thus far have come in overtime and each took place in Maui during tournament play

BYU leads the all-time series by a margin of 138-92, winning two straight and three of the last four. The latest victory took place last season around this time, as the team captured an 85-74 triumph at home.

The Cougars went from shooting 50.0 percent from the field in the first half against EKU to 64.5 percent after intermission, including a sizzling 10-of-15 behind the 3-point line. BYU finished the meeting an exceptional 15-of-28 out on the perimeter in order to offset 19 turnovers which prevented the contest from becoming a blowout.

Tyler Haws was again the leading scorer with 26 points, hitting 10-of-15 from the floor, followed by Chase Fischer with 20 points, with each player converting 4-of-8 on the outside. Anson Winder pitched in with 19 points off the bench and Kyle Collinsworth another 11 to go along with five assists.

Haws is again one of the top scoring threats in the country this season with his 22.1 ppg, stemming from 50.5 percent accuracy from the field and a near- perfect 41-of-45 at the free-throw line. Fischer (16.3 ppg), Winder (14.3) and Collinsworth (11.0 ppg) are all key components to a program that is generating a lofty 95.7 ppg on the strength of 50.4 percent shooting from the field and close to 11 triples per outing.

In a game that featured eight ties and 11 lead changes, Utah State came up lame in the overtime time session versus the Aggies on the road, converting a total of just two field goals in 10 chances and missing all three opportunities behind the 3-point line in the frame. All but one of the starters (David Collette, seven points) scored in double figures, led by Jalen Moore who tallied 17 points. Darius Perkins and Chris Smith both dropped in 13 and combined for seven of the unit's 13 assists, followed by Jojo McGlaston with 11 points as he made only 4-of-14 shots from the floor.

Youth has been serving this team well for the most part in the early going, with sophomore Moore leading the scoring attack with 14.6 ppg and also spearheading the efforts on the glass as well with 6.2 rpg. Collette, a freshman, is second in scoring with 12.2 ppg and has accounted for half of the unit's 20 blocked shots. Perkins (11.2 ppg) and Smith (10.8) add to the attack which has produced 65.0 ppg.

Obviously the Cougars like to push the pace of any game they are involved in, while Utah State tries to keep scoring to a minimum if at all possible. While they should meet somewhere in the middle, expect the advantage to go to an active BYU bunch.