Aggie Notebook

Idaho improvement At almost the opposite record of USU at 4-13, the Idaho Vandals are still a vastly improved team from a year ago, USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “Their personnel has improved,” Morrill said. “I think they’re running great stuff. George (Pfeifer, Idaho head coach) is coaching them, and they’re just a lot better team than they were a year ago and that’s what their goal is, to just keep getting better and they are getting better for sure.” In the 2006-07 season, the Vandals posted a 4-27 season, claiming only one victory against a Western Athletic Conference opponent in San Jose State. This year, though off to a similarly slow start, Idaho has already bested Louisiana Tech and still has the majority of the WAC season ahead of it. But Idaho hasn’t had an easy go at this season either. Boasting one of the toughest schedules in the WAC, which is at the bottom of the NCAA totem pole in schedule strength, the Vandals have played three ranked teams this season. They dropped a 43-80 contest against Gonzaga, ranked 14th at the time, fell 43-74 to 9th-ranked Washington State and lost a 65-76 battle against 24th-ranked Arizona State. Though their losses triple their wins, the Vandals’ average win margin is less than 5 points, with some of the closest matches coming against WAC opponents.

Going on the road If there’s no place like home, then there’s nothing more alien than two straight road games – a first for the Aggies since early December against Utah and Cal State Bakersfield. Since then, Utah State has enjoyed home-court advantage for eight straight games, partly due to a postponed match against Nevada due to poor weather conditions. Home-court advantage means more than friendly faces and the chance to hear a familiar fight song. At USU, home court equates to winning, and win they have, reeling off eight straight wins. But is winning at home as easy as it appears? “We got a stretch of a bunch of home games I believe, and when you have that many home games, it’s not easy to win them all. So I think our guys did a good job there,” Morrill said. But perhaps more difficult than winning home games will be heading into hostile territory, something unfamiliar for the Aggies, who have only played seven of their 19 games on the road, accounting for all five losses on the season. “It’s been awhile since we’ve been out on the road, and we were not very good on the road early,” Morrill said. “Last time we were on the road we played pretty well, but we’re playing better competition – no offense to Bakersfield – better competition in the WAC than our last time out. “So it’s a nice challenge for us and we’re excited to be where we’re at, but we know what we’ve basically done is hold home court. That’s better than not holding it. You’ve got to do that for sure, hold your home court. You’ve got to find some road breakers too, and that’s what this next week is about, go out and get a road break.” Senior guard Jaycee Carroll said he isn’t sure the team is ready for the intensity of WAC road games. “I think we made some huge steps here at home,” Carroll said. “I still don’t quite think we know what it’s going to take to win on the road exactly. Last year, after we played four home games, we were 4-0 at home as well. We were actually 7-0 and we lost our last home game. We’ve been here before, even last year, and last year we weren’t quite tough enough on the road to move up on the first spot or second spot on the WAC. This team will learn that. We’re pretty smart most of the time and we really like to compete, so we’ll figure out how to win on the road.”

Jaycee Carroll tribute All it took was two points. It could have come off a quick jumper, or a couple free throws, but Carroll claimed his spot as USU’s career scoring leader off his famed 3-point shooting, draining the shot with a hand in his face and a quick look. Carroll ended the evening with a career subtotal of 2,147 points and was treated to a video tribute and a trip around the Spectrum on the shoulders of the Aggie big men. Morrill was full of praise for Carroll during a post-game interview. “I said earlier today, and I sincerely mean it, if he could put into words and write a pamphlet or a book or something to give to young kids on how to become a good college basketball player, and if someone would read it and take it to heart, it should be a bestseller,” Morrill said. “His work ethic was developed at a young age. He could have a chapter on how to be a good person too. How to show up every day and just work your tail off. “It’s a dream story, it really is, to coach a kid like that. Also, some guys who should buy the book are freshmen who come play at Utah State, because I tell our freshmen all the time, ‘You should watch him. If you need a little motivation, look at him. Figure out what he does in the offseason. Figure out what he does every day in practice.’ “His game has just blossomed. Like I’ve said, best scorer I’ve ever had, just amazing. You’re almost surprised when he gets an open look and misses, it’s like, what the hell? What’s up with that because he’s a shot maker. He makes volumes of shots. His percentages are unbelievable.” But Carroll said he wasn’t done with just setting a record, as he has his sights set on finishing strong on the rest of the season. “It’s nice to get that over with and celebrate tonight. They did a great job of trying to make me feel special tonight,” Carroll said. “Now we’ll just get on and try to make something special of this basketball thing.”

First view of jaycee carroll’s 3-point shoT at the 13