Between the Lines: Breaking down USU’s game at Denver
In the first game of this week’s road trip, the Aggie men’s basketball team (4-1) takes on the University of Denver Pioneers (1-5) tonight.
The Aggies and Pioneers have not met since 1978, though we played a home-and-home series every season from 1937 to 1978. The Aggies lead the series 53-34. Denver is presently in the Sun Belt Conference, but in 2012, they will become a part of the Western Athletic Conference in all sports.
Keys to the game:
1. Denver only has one win, but decent shooting percentages, some better than ours. Denver is averaging 57.7 points and shooting 43.2 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from three-point range and 75.0 percent at the free throw line. The Aggies are shooting 44.4 percent from the field, 31.9 percent from the three-point line, and 70.4 percent in free throws. We have averaged 70 points per game. USU really needs to step up the free throw shooting. These percentages are making a difference in our recent games.
2. Senior guard, Brian Green, has been sinking three-point shots left and right this season, but is consistently and significantly better at away games. He scored a career-high of 19 points at Southern Utah, shooting four of five from behind the arc. At BYU, he made five of six shots from the three-point range. However, he only made three of the 13 attempted three-pointers between both of last week’s home games. We’d love to see the high numbers at home, but as long as he keeps up the trend this week and makes his shots, he can have a huge influence in this set of games.
3. The Aggie defense has been strong this year, holding opponents to an average of 62.4 points. In the last four games, the opposing teams have only averaged shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point range. Defense is just as key in a game as our offense is so keeping these numbers low will work with our own shooting and rebounding numbers to lead us to wins.
X-Factor:
Brady Jardine is a man on fire. For the first time in his career, the junior forward was named the WAC player of the week this week. He played a huge part in leading the Aggies in last week’s wins against Utah and Northeastern. Between the two games, with double-doubles both nights, Jardine averaged 17.5 points and 13.0 rebounds. He shot 64.7 percent from the field, making 11 of 17 shots, and hit 13 of 18 from the free throw line. If Jardine maintains the power he has and continues to play as hard, he will play a big part in this week’s games.
The Aggies play Denver tonight with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net. However, for those watching on Comcast, it will be played on tape delay at 10 p.m. because of the Jazz game.
– megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu