Another early Ag NIT exit

The 2007-08 campaign for the USU men’s basketball team will register in the history books as 24 wins and 11 losses. But still no National Invitation Tournament victory for a Stew Morrill-coached team. A few late plays Wednesday night that didn’t go USU’s way allowed the Illinois State Redbirds to triumph in their home arena for a 61-57 victory in the first round of the MasterCard NIT. “(The Redbirds) were making all the hustle plays, and we were turning it over too much,” Morrill said in a post-game radio interview. “In the second half, we came out and competed and gave ourselves a chance. We had lots of chances in that basketball game.” One of those chances came with less than 30 seconds to play. Down by two points, USU went to All-American senior Jaycee Carroll. He came off a screen, put up a 3-pointer, but it didn’t go in. The Redbirds grabbed the rebound, and the Aggies’ season came to an abrupt end. USU has not won an NIT game since 1960, when it defeated St. Bonaventure. The Aggies have not won in the postseason since 2000, when, as a No. 12 seed, they upset the No. 5 seed Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Carroll was hounded all night by the Redbirds’ defense, Morrill said. Carroll finished 4-of-15 from the field-including 2-of-8 from 3-point range. Even though it was one of his worst shooting games, Carroll still had a game-high 15 points. He also pulled down six rebounds and dished out five assists. “It’s a mark of a good player when he doesn’t have things going offensively but can contribute in other ways,” Morrill said of Carroll. “He’s become a much more complete player as his career has went along. (The Redbirds) had done such a good job on him. I think they were determined to guard him with their whole team, not just one guy. Everywhere he went, their defense didn’t give him very many clean looks. When he finally got a couple, those become harder to make. They did a great job. Just a tough night for Jaycee shooting wise.” Three other Aggies scored in double figures. Junior forward Gary Wilkinson scored 12 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season; senior forward Stephen DuCharme put in 10 points; freshman Pooh Williams scored 10 as well-his career high. The Redbirds were led by Osiris Eldgridge, who had 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting. Forward Dinma Odiakosa had 11 points and six rebounds. The Aggies held leads of 2-0 and 4-3 early on, and a DuCharme jumper tied the score at 14. The Redbirds then distanced themselves by draining three consecutive 3-pointers to give them a 23-14 lead with 9:54 left in the opening half. USU came as close as three points before ISU went into the half with a nine-point advantage. The Redbirds converted seven of their 12 attempts at 3-bombs in the first half. The Aggies only made 1-of-5 of the same shots, while committing 12 turnovers. “That’s what I was upset about at halftime,” Morrill explained. “I didn’t think we had done very much to give ourselves a chance. That’s what they do. They cause you to turn it over with their pressure.” The Aggies found themselves down by as many as 11 points in the second half, but eventually came within a point at the end. Like the Aggies and their 17-0 record this season in the Spectrum, the Redbirds are now 16-1 in Redbird Arena. “Their coach (Tim Jankovich) says to me after the game, ‘You’d kick our rear end in Logan,'” Morrill said. “Obviously the home court is huge in any college basketball game. I’m not sure that’s true (of Wednesday’s game). It’s very nice of him to say that.”

Williams shows potential

Though the Aggies will be without Carroll, DuCharme and guard Kris Clark next season, Williams’ 10-point performance in an important postseason game offers encouragement. “That’s really good to see,” Morrill said of Williams’ performance. “He needs to have a good career here at Utah State. We’re counting on him to have a good career. He looked like he could play tonight. That’s very positive. It’s a process sometimes when you’re a young guy. You have to have success to believe you can have success. This should help him in the offseason.” Also returning are freshmen Tai Wesley and Tyler Newbold-both of whom were part of the Aggies’ starting five for the majority of the season. Williams said he and Newbold both want to be starting next year and will be working out together over the summer to make sure that happens. “That’s what we’ve been talking about, staying in Logan,” Williams said. “That would be lovely to have both of us out there together.” Williams sat out last year in order to become academically eligible. He said he’s glad he decided to stay at USU instead of going to play at a junior college for two years. “That would have made me come in as a junior and come in and only have two years of playing Division I basketball,” Williams said. “I think my situation turned out really good.” -samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu