Tai Wesley and Brockeith Pane scored 22 points apiece, and No. 24 Utah State dominated in the second half en route to a 75-65 victory at No. 23 Saint Mary’s on Saturday.

Wesley recorded his sixth double-double this season with 11 rebounds and the Aggies (25-3) outscored Saint Mary’s 48-29 in the second half of the BracketBusters game.

Mitchell Young had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Mickey McConnell added 16 in a loss that places Saint Mary’s (22-6) squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Matthew Dellavedova finished with nine points.

Three Saint Mary’s players fouled out, including starting forward Rob Jones. The Gaels’ leading rebounder exited with nine minutes left after he had nine points and four rebounds.

Utah State opened the second half with a 27-5 run and held its biggest lead at 65-53 with 3:27 remaining after Pooh Williams’ dunk. Clint Steindl answered with back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Gaels were unable to come closer than six.

The win gives Utah State’s NCAA Tournament chances a boost - in case it doesn't win the Western Athletic Conference tournament - since the Aggies had only one win over a top 100 opponent entering the game.

Utah State holds a commanding lead in the WAC at 12-1. Saint Mary's has a one-game lead over Gonzaga and San Francisco in the West Coast Conference.