Ags down Vandals again
The Aggie men’s basketball team ended their road slump Saturday with an impressive win over University of Idaho, 75-66.
With setting such a high standard last game against New Mexico State, the Aggies proved last week’s win was not a fluke.
Junior guard Jaycee Carroll scored a game-high 28 points after a 44-point game last Monday, keeping his tradition of double-digit scoring alive.
Unfortunately, USU’s second leading scorer, Chaz Spicer, was out for the game due to a viral stomach ache. With a vital player like Spicer on the bench, the rest of the team had to pick up their game if they wanted to put points on the board.
After Vandal junior Darin Nagle scored the first two points of the game, USU came back, scoring 10 straight points within the first three minutes, making the score 10-2.
Kris Clark, junior guard, set the pace of the game by scoring the first basket of the night for the Aggies, and it was all uphill from there.
The Aggies did have trouble holding onto the ball, however, which they turned over the first two times they had possession. After finally getting control, Carroll stretched to make a 15-foot basket with 15 minutes left in the first half.
With Spicer being sick, other players like junior Arvydas Viatiekus, were played to fill the position. The 6-foot-11 center from Lithuania was anything but a disappointment, shooting two consecutive shots and putting the Aggies ahead by 11 points. He then matched his career high of six points with seven minutes into the first half, bringing the score to 22-9.
“Everybody knew that today some of us would have to get more time, so it’d have to be me,” Viatiekus said.
The team went almost 10 minutes into the game without a team foul, but that ended with junior forward Stephen DuCharme, who had two straight fouls against Idaho.
With 7:05 left to play in the first half, Viatiekus put in his fourth basket, beating his career high of six points by two.
O.J. Harrison, sophomore forward, finally saw playing time after sitting out the past three games. He started out rough against Idaho, missing his first foul shot. Fortunately, he was able to redeem himself with a one-handed dunk with 3:23 remaining in the first half, bringing the score to 39-18.
The Aggies headed to the locker room at halftime leading Idaho, 43-23, and showed no signs of slowing down.
If the team had any problems, turnovers were it.
They gave the ball away a total of 14 times with only seven minutes into the second half. Their shooting didn’t slow down though, leading by 20 points with 13.45 left in the game.
Carroll put his 20th point on the board with 10:25 left, but it was not good enough for the Aggies to keep their 10-point lead. Idaho slowly closed the gap by eight points.
With constant scoring on both sides, the win was up for grabs.
Idaho senior guard Keoni Watson led his team by scoring 24 points but was no match against the Aggies after fouling out with 0:43 left in the game.
Junior guard Miles Webb also scored high for Idaho, putting 18 points on the board. With less than two minutes left, Webb fouled Clark, who finished the game with a season record of 17-19 at the foul line.
Viatiekus surprisingly scored the second highest points for the Aggies, walking away with a career-high 12 points and four rebounds. He was the ninth USU player to get double digits this year and was named the Sports Academy Player of the Game.
“Some guys got off the bench and responded,” Head Coach Stew Morrill said, adding it was “Arvydas’ best night as an Aggie.”
Even with Carroll missing a free throw with seconds left in the game, the Aggies still walked away with the win.
The team finished the game by shooting a season-high 63.8 percent from the field and out-rebounded Idaho, who only shot 41.4 overall, 35-19.
“Winning in Moscow is never easy under any circumstances,” Morrill said. “And we’re going to feel great about it.”
-bfairman@cc.usu.edu