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Ogden • So much for distractions. If Utah State handles sudden change the rest of the year as it did the season opener, it could be a very good year for the Aggies.

The signs certainly are auspicious at the moment for Utah State and first-year coach Tim Duryea, who, earlier in the week, shook off the news that expected starter David Collette decided to transfer.

That was on Wednesday. On Friday, the Aggies took a 73-70 victory over Weber State as Chris Smith scored 19 points and Lew Evans added 17 for Utah State.

"We're still doing the same plays, the same everything. We just have to play harder because we lost a leading scorer," said Smith of Collette's departure from the team. "We've all got to step it up, which we did tonight."

It was up to post players Elston Jones and Evans to pick up the slack for Collette. But both drew their fourth fouls within a minute of each other at the midway point of the second half.

Duryea put Evans on the bench but left Jones in until he drew his fifth foul with 5:28 remaining. In his last few minutes on the court, Jones scored a bucket and grabbed a key rebound during an 8-0 run that gave Utah State a 62-58 lead.

Evans then shuttled onto the court and scored five points over the remainder of the contest.

"The way they were both playing, I thought they were pretty much interchangeable," said Duryea, who replaced Stew Morrill as the Aggies' coach. "I didn't really worry too much about it. I was just going to play one and, if something happened, we were just going to sub the other one in."

Evans' inside bucket with 5:10 remaining was followed by a 3-point swish from Smith and then another Evans' score for a 69-60 lead with 3:35 left in the game.

Weber State got 20 points each from Joel Bolomboy and Jeremy Senglin. And two late scores from Senglin, one with 50 seconds left and the next with 16 seconds on the clock, brought the Wildcats to within one at 71-70.

But Shane Rector hit a pair of free throws, which forced a 3-point attempt by Weber's Dusty Baker that was off-the-mark with four seconds to go.

Rector finished with 15 points.

"We've been prepping all week for that team and coach told us it would be like a mid-season atmosphere," Rector said. "We came out ready to win and we executed."

"I like what this team is made of. I like the character, I like the pieces," said Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "We played a very veteran team that I thought showed a lot of poise out there down the stretch."

Duryea credited Rahe with helping him become a Utah State assistant coach. Duryea was in that position for 14 years before ascending to the head coaching position when Morrill retired at the end of last season.

"It feels great," said Duryea of the victorio us culmination to a tough week. "My suit's a little wet. They threw some water on me in the locker room, but I'll take that every time. It's been a long week and this is a great win — much needed for that group of kids."