Aggies dominate ISU for sixth win
The Utah State men’s basketball team won their sixth-straight game with an 83-46 route over Idaho State University Saturday night in the Spectrum.
“If you don’t feel good about that, you don’t feel good about nothing,” Head Coach Stew Morrill said of the game.
The Aggies controlled the game from start to finish, something they have struggled to do so far this year. The Aggies are now 6-1 on the year, riding a six game winning streak.
“[It was] a little different than South Dakota,” Morrill said. “That didn’t look like the same team. We took a big step forward tonight, and that is what we needed to do. We are going to need to take another step forward to get ready for Utah, but at least we are moving in the right direction.”
The Aggies got things started in a hurry with an opening 3-pointer by Durrall Peterson, and they never looked back. In the first half, the Aggies shot a red hot 72.7 percent field goal average. For the entire game, they shot 63.8 percent from the field while also shooting 52.9 percent from behind the 3-point arch.
“It was encouraging that we would play that hard and that well,” Morrill said. “We shot it well, and we passed it well.”
Six Aggies scored in double figures. Junior guard Jaycee Carroll scored more than 20 points again, keeping his streak of scoring at least 20 points per game alive. He ended the game with 22 points while also going 4-5 from 3- point range. Senior forward Durrall Peterson had a better than usual performance, finishing with 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Others to score in double figures were senior forward Chaz Spicer (10), junior forward Stephen DuCharme (11), junior guard Mikel Watson (10) and senior forward Chris Session (10).
“The good thing about this team,” Watson said, “is that everybody can score and everybody can play defense. You never know who is going to come out and have a good night.”
Not only was the USU offense good, but their defense also looked better. The Aggie defense held the Bengals to 34 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from behind the line.
“To hold them to those percentages is encouraging,” Morrill said.
The Aggie defense was able to limit the scoring of Idaho State’s top scorer, Akbar Abdul-Ahad, who came into the game averaging 15.5 points per game, but only contributed three points against USU.
As a whole, the Aggie team seemed to have fun while playing, Watson said. During the game they looked more like a team than they have appeared so far this year, he said.
“That was a big key tonight,” Watson said. “We knew we were playing a good team, so the big thing was to come out and have fun and get a win.”
“We haven’t had a crowd like this yet, and it is always more fun to be home,” Morrill said when asked about his team’s ability to have fun during the game. About 8,645 fans filled the Spectrum on game night.
“You automatically have fun,” Session said. “Basketball is a fun game, especially when things are going right.”
Although everything seemed to go right for the Aggies and the Bengals appeared capable of making the Aggies fight for the win.
The two teams traded baskets for the first seven minutes of the game and the score was 12-11 for the Aggies. But an 8-0 run, made possible by back-to-back 3’s from Jaycee Carroll and a pair of technical foul shots, put the Ags up 20-11.
The Aggies were able to distance themselves even more from the Bengals with a 17-4 run to close out the half, including a buzzer-beating layup by Watson, to put the home team up 47-26 at the break.
Instead of relaxing in the second half, the Aggies kept pushing. Peterson came out at half and shot back to back 3’s to help the Aggies go on an 8-0 run to push the lead to 27.
“It was nice to see him make some shots,” Morrill said about Peterson’s hot hand. “We talked to him about getting his percentages up and about being a little more selective.”
Sophomore forward O.J. Harrison added the exclamation mark on the night with a two-handed dunk off a Nick Hammer assist. It was the only Aggie dunk of the night.
Another set of back to back three’s by Peterson helped create a 12-2 run to put the Aggies up 83-42 with 4:07 left in the game. The Aggies would not score again in the contest, but they didn’t need to.
Morrill said more effective practices were crucial to the improved performance.
“We practiced a lot harder,” Watson said.
“Concentration and focus in practice,” Session said when asked about the difference between this game and the South Dakota game. “Coach kept emphasizing better practice habits and better focus.”
“We’ve been on these kids hard about trying to get better,” Morrill said, “but they need to feel good about tonight. When you work this hard you need to feel good about something, me included. I’m going to feel good about this one and get ready for Utah.”
The Aggie basketball team will put their six-game winning streak on the line against rival Utah, Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 7:05 p.m. in the Spectrum. The Utah game is the first of three straight in-state games the Aggies will play. After Utah the Aggies will head south to play Utah Valley State on Dec. 9, and then on to Provo to challenge Brigham Young University on Dec. 16.
-wwm@cc.usu.edu