Aggie Notebook
Carrol versus the Utes
Playing in his fourth game against the University of Utah, Aggie senior guard Jaycee Carroll went into Wednesday night’s contest averaging 21 points per game on 58 percent shooting. Last year at the Spectrum Carroll scored 27 points, including five 3-pointers. Wednesday night Carroll tied a season low with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-3 from beyond the 3-point line. When asked if Utah used a different strategy defensively this year against him, Carroll said they did not. “I saw the same stuff last year, saw the same stuff this year,” Carroll said. USU head coach Stew Morrill blamed Carroll’s lack of touches on the team’s poor screens. “They did a good job on Jaycee,” Morrill said of the Ute defense. “We ran the whole play book at them, but we didn’t screen. It’s tough to get him a look when you don’t screen.”
Two-point guard system
Utah State saw success against Santa Clara when playing senior point guard Kris Clark and junior point guard Desmond Stephens at the same time. Against the University of Utah, the two-guard system didn’t produce the same kind of results. Combined, the guards recorded seven assists and six turnovers. Shots were not falling either as the duo combined to shoot 3-of-13 from the field. All three of the shots they made were 3-pointers. “Offensively we didn’t play our game,” Carroll said.
Battle for the Old Oquirrh Bucket
Established prior to the 1974-75 season, the Old Oquirrh Bucket is the symbol of in-state basketball supremacy in Utah. Over the last six years, Utah State has won the Old Oquirrh Bucket twice, while the University of Utah has won it three times. Overall Utah State has won the Bucket seven times. With the loss to Utah, the Aggies are now 1-2 on the season against in-state teams. The Aggies have lost to the Utes and the Weber State Wildcats, while picking up a win at home against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Utah has a 2-0 record in-state. Weber State is 1-2, while Brigham Young has a record of 1-0 versus in-state competition. Utah State has one in-state game left when they take on Utah Valley at home Dec. 20 during the Gossner Foods Holiday Classic.
Carroll record watch
When Carroll made his first and only 3-pointer of the game with 7:11 left in the second half, he extended his consecutive games with a made 3-point shot to 31. For his career he has made at least one 3-pointer in 97 out of 108 games. Wednesday night’s trey moved Carroll into sole possession of most made 3-pointers for a Utah State player. He passed former Aggie star Tony Brown, who played from 1999-2002. Carroll now has 284. Carroll needs to score 71 more points to move ahead of Wayne Estes for second place in all-time scoring at USU. Carroll currently has 1,931 points for his career, while Estes scored 2,001 points. The all-time points leader is Greg Grant, who scored 2,127 points. If Carroll continues on his scoring average of 19.4 points per game, he would pass up Estes on Dec. 21 at home during the Gossner Foods Classic, and he would break the all-time record at Louisiana Tech on Jan. 24.
Garbage Time
In what Morrill considers 20/20 time-when a team is up by 20 or down by 20-many Aggies saw playing time Wednesday who haven’t been off the bench for very long this season. The most notable player put in was sophomore big man Brayden Bell, who played the final eight minutes of the game. In the previous four games, the 6-foot-9-inch transfer from Ohio State had played only five minutes total. After cleaning off the rust with an awkward looking 3-pointer that wasn’t close, Bell hit his next two shots to finish the game with four points. Freshman Matt Formisano came off the bench to record three minutes of play. -sam.bryner@aggiemail.usu.edu