Aggies top Santa Clara
In a game of runs, Utah State had the most important one of the game, a 4-0 run to close out the final minute of the game and hold on for a 71-65 win against visiting Santa Clara University on Saturday night in the Spectrum in front of 9,345 fans.
Utah State had an 8-0 run with 6:20 left in the game and seemed to be on its way to an easy finish after two straight 3-pointers by Carroll ignited the crowd and put the Aggies up by 11, 66-55, with 3:40 left in the game.
“It was a really physical, hard-fought game, it was slugging rats out there. We just had a couple of bursts that gave us a chance to win,” head coach Stew Morrill said.
Ignited by Carroll’s 3-pointers and with the Spectrum crowd buzzing, the only challenge that seemed to remain for the Aggies on the night would be the traversing of Logan’s slick, icy roads after a winter storm blanketed Cache Valley with snow during the game.
Santa Clara had other ideas.
Seniors John Bryant and Brody Angley benefited from the only two Aggie turnovers of the second half to go on a 10-1 run themselves to pull Santa Clara back to within two points at 67-65 with 55.9 seconds left.
“We tried to give it back when we were up 11,” Morrill said. “We had some turnovers that gave them chances, and all of the sudden they were back in the game.”
“I don’t think we ever thought that we could let up a little bit and never thought that we had it in the bag,” forward Gary Wilkinson said.
Five free throws by Utah State would be the only points scored the rest of way by either team as the Aggies (5-4) handed Santa Clara (5-2) their second loss on the season.
“We fought a little bit tonight,” senior guard Jaycee Carroll said. “When we got down before in a couple of other games, it seemed like we gave up-we didn’t fight, we didn’t know where to look for answers. Tonight and even against Iowa we got through these runs that they made and through our bad mistakes and just kept playing basketball.”
With just more than two minutes left in the first half, Utah State was down by eight and the Santa Clara defense was causing Utah State fits.
“I think they really physicalled us, they caught us off guard,” Morrill said. “They just knocked the crap out of us and took us out of our cuts, and we had a real hard time getting synchronized.”
Utah State didn’t give up though, and he used a 6-2 run to close out the half and go into the break trailing by only four, 26-30.
Morrill credited Santa Clara for having smart players and said he has nothing but respect for the Broncos.
“They’re a good team, they’re a veteran team, they have a lot of guys who really know how to play basketball,” Morrill said. “They got a great feel for how to play, and that’s a credit to them.”
The Aggies started the second half the same way that they ended the first-with a run.
Utah State started the second half with a 10-2 run to gain its first lead of the game and stretch that lead to four, 36-32, with 15 minutes left in the game.
“Limit our turnovers, cause them to have turnovers, shoot a good percentage and execute our offense,” Wilkinson said. “I think we came out with the intensity to do that in the second half.”
In the second half, Utah State committed only two turnovers while forcing Santa Clara into six turnovers for the half and 14 overall.
Wilkinson credited having a week of practice to the Aggies’ success in cutting down on turnovers.
“We had a good week of practice. It was really tough and we worked on some things, and I think that helped us to take a step forward,” Wilkinson said. “We are making some steps forward.”
Morrill agreed with Wilkinson and also said the practice time enabled the Aggies to work on some things on the offensive end.
“When you have some time to practice, you can tinker a little bit and that helped us offensively,” Morrill said. “We added a couple of looks. Jaycee got open on a couple of things we added.”
Carroll scored 25 points for Utah State on 9-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the 3-point line. Stephen DuCharme recorded 12 points and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
Next up for Utah State is in-state rival University of Utah, the same Utah team that lost to Santa Clara at home earlier in the season, 72-57, on Wednesday.
– sam.bryner@aggiemail.usu.edu