Broncs prove tough for Ags; USU stops scoring run just in time

Boise State just ran out of time.

The Broncos scored the final 13 points of the game, but still came up two points short as the Utah State men’s basketball team prevailed 64-62 in Boise.

Bronco Coby Karl missed a shot just inside the arc at the buzzer to seal the win for the Aggies.

USU led 64-49 with just under five minutes to play when Karl took over the game for BSU, scoring 13 of its last 15 points.

“We had a lead and let them back in at the end,” Aggie Chaz Spicer said. “Karl’s a good player. We worked on him all week.”

Morrill said opposing teams have to respect Karl.

“He’s the real deal,” he said. “He really understands the game. He led them back.”

Spicer said the Aggies were trying not to panic in the final minutes.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” he said. “Everyone’s going to get their run. We’ve just got to stop them.”

Karl hit a three-pointer on the Broncos first possession of the game, but did not score again until the second half.

“We talked about it at halftime,” Spicer said. “We knew he would go out and try to get his points.”

Jaycee Carroll led the Aggies with 18 points and Nate Harris added another 16. Those two had 15 and 13 respectively at halftime.

“For the first half, we were unbelievable,” head coach Stew Morrill said. “Jaycee had a huge first half. It was nerve-racking down the stretch. We gave ourselves a cushion. Then all of a sudden bang! They’re back in it. They made a nice run. That’s life on the road.”

Spicer finished the game with 13 points and four rebounds.

“Last game was one of my worst of the season,” he said. “I can’t do that anymore. I want to do whatever I can to help the team.”

Morrill said he thought Spicer played outstanding.

“Chaz was really huge for us,” he said. “He came in and scored the ball when we were struggling a bit. I think this was his best game as an Aggie.”

Chris Huber played the game even though his wife is expected to give birth to twins at any time. The babies, at this point, seven weeks premature, Morrill said. He had a cell phone on the sideline and if his wife would have gone into labor, he would have left the game.

Morrill said the Aggies would not have won the game without Huber.

“That just a tough situation,” he said. “Without Hubie here, we probably don’t win. We’re just going to work through this the best we can.”

USU shot 52.1 percent from the field while holding BSU to only 39.7. The Aggies also shot 43.8 percent from three-point range. Going into the game, USU led the country in that statistic at 43.1 percent.

The Aggies also out-rebounded the Broncos 32-27.

Thursday’s game was USU’s final one on the road in the regular season. The Aggies will face the Nevada Wolf Pack next in the Spectrum on Saturday.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu