Ags rusty but victorious in season-opener

It was a typical first game for the USU men’s basketball team: Plenty of turnovers, over-excitement and a positive ending. In front of 9,499 fans, the Aggies defeated the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, 60-49, to tally their 13th opening-game win in their past 14 tries. It was a rough outing for both sides as each had 19 turnovers. “Just a slugfest,” Aggie Head Coach Stew Morrill said. “Neither team looked very pretty offensively. Nineteen turnovers is indicitive of it.” The Aggies led the entire game-in the first half by as many as nine, and a 15-point cushion in the second half. Aggie senior guard Jaycee Carroll led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, as well as grabbing seven rebounds. A short jumper by Carroll at the 7:29 mark of the second half put the Aggies up 11. From then on the Thunderbirds did not come closer than eight points. Ten different Aggie players saw court time. All but three of them scored at least two points. USU forward Stephen DuCharme had 11 points, five rebounds and one block. Fellow forward Gary Wilkinson added 10 points, six boards and three blocks. “I’m trying to play guys and get them ready,” Morrill said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys and new guys that have never played (a Division-I game). We will keep trying to get guys chances and hope they respond. They’ll play better. I told them that at the end of the game.” A primary reason the Thunderbirds were able to stay close to USU was offensive rebounds. SUU had six of them in the first half despite making only 8-of-24 shots. For the game SUU had 13 offensive boards and shot 36 percent from the field. “That can’t happen on a regular basis and be a good team,” Wilkinson said. “SUU came in with a great game plan with how to defend us and what they needed to do.” SUU’s Tyler Quinn was the Thunderbirds’ only player to reach double figures. Quinn had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. “We beat ourselves,” Thunderbird first-year Head Coach Roger Reid said. “We didn’t make good decisions and didn’t execute well. You have to let the other team beat you, which they did, and Utah State did a good job causing our mistakes.” Reid is a former BYU head basketball coach. He led the Cougars to five NCAA Tournament births and three Western Athletic Conference titles.

UP NEXT: WEBER STATE The Aggies will have minimal time to prepare for their second game. They travel to Ogden to take on the Weber State Wildcats Saturday night at 7 p.m. “I knew that was gonna be a problem because we don’t have any time,” Morrill said. “We’ve got (our team) here at 9:15 tomorrow morning. We’ll check into a hotel (in Ogden) and try to get them off their feet for a few hours. I’ll be able to nap. I don’t if they will, but I know I will.” The Wildcats are coached by former Morrill assistant Randy Rahe. They are also preseason favorites to win the Big Sky Conference. -samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu