Aggies pick up win over Gauchos
The Aggies came out lethargic from their New Year’s holiday, fending off an undermanned UC Santa Barbara squad in a 3-point shootout, 80-70.
Because of the Santa Barbara’s zone defense, Jaycee Carroll scored a career high 28 points on 8-12 shooting from the 3-point range, finishing one shy of tying the school record for 3-pointers.
Joe See of Santa Barbara also made 8-12 from beyond the arc, even though he came into the game off of a 0-6 shooting night against Cal-State Northridge.
“I didn’t think we were particularly sharp defensively,” Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill said.
The Gauchos only dressed seven players because of four injuries and two players who were academically ineligible.
They had just lost their leading scorer in Casey Cook to injury during their last game.
Coming out of halftime the Aggies went on a 10-0 run thanks to four points each from Nate Harris and John Neil and another bucket from Spencer Nelson.
During the second half, the two teams combined for 14 total from behind the arc.
During this stretch, the Aggies led by as many as 19 but the Gauchos were able to keep the game close.
The Gauchos had nine steals in the second half to keep the game close.
But they couldn’t quite get close enough as Alex Harris missed a layup and See lost the ball after passing up a 3-pointer in transition.
-krn@cc.usu.edu