Ags basketball thumps Puget Sound
Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill isn’t sure his team took much away from its 125-72 rout of Division III Puget Sound Saturday night.
“That was like Saturday at the Rec., or the HPER or the church gym,” Morrill said. “That was kind of wild.”
Employing a full-court pressure for most of the game, the Loggers didn’t allow USU many opportunities to run a set offense – something Morrill and his squad wanted to work on in exhibition play.
“They just kind of force you to have to score,” Morrill said. “I’m not sure how much good that game did us in a lot of respects. We didn’t get to run hardly any offense.”
With junior guard Chris Huber in street clothes, sidelined by an ankle injury, much of the night’s focus was directed toward how the new core of guards would respond for the Ags.
Freshman Jaycee Carroll answered the call at the No. 2 spot for Utah State, scoring 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting. He also recorded six boards and dished out four assists.
“I told him this is not Division I,” Morrill said. “This isn’t the kind of athlete we’re going to play against.”
Carroll said his performance was a confidence boost, but said he wasn’t about to let it go to his head.
“It’ll be a lot tougher than that,” he said. “We need to play together and not get a big head, and just kind of do things within the offense and the structure coach has. He knows what he’s doing. I’ll just listen to him and do whatever he tells me to do.”
Solid offensive performance in practice earned Carroll the start at No. 2 Morrill said. But, Morrill said, Carroll needs to improve defensively.
“He’s a freshman and defensively he reminds of Tony Brown as a freshman and that’s not a good thing,” Morrill said. As a freshman, Brown, Utah State’s No. 7 scorer all-time was told he couldn’t even guard a chair.
Senior Calvin Brown, who only saw 34 minutes of play last season, shared ball-handling duties with Saddleback Junior College (California) transfer David Pak and finished the night with nine assists. Pak finished with eight points, five rebounds and six assists.
Morrill said the Ags committed too many turnovers, but said he has been pleased with the progress of the new guards to date.
“One thing about David is he’s trying really hard,” Morrill said. “But that should be what you do. You shouldn’t get pats on the back for playing hard. That should just be what you do at a good program.”
Huber could see time as early as Nov. 18, when the Ags travel to Alaska for the Top of the World Tournament, but Morrill said a definitive date for his return hasn’t been established.
“Hubey is stable and solid and understands what you’re trying to do,” Morrill said. “I just don’t know when we’ll have him.”
In the post for USU, Spencer Nelson, Nate Harris, John Neil and Ian McVey all had solid games. Nelson and Harris, both pre-season All-Conference first team selections, finished with 21 and 14 points respectively.
Neil, a senior, scored 17 after getting the nod to start and McVey finished the night with 21 points to his credit.
Senior Jason Williams suited up, but didn’t see any playing time as he continues to serve out his suspension. Marques Crane was not present for Saturday’s exhibition.
“He’s just taking care of some responsibilities he’s got to take care of to be reinstated,” Morrill said of Crane’s absence.
Both Crane’s and Williams’ status was questionable after the players were cited with misdemeanor possession of marijuana last month, but Morrill said both players are making progress toward reinstatement and he expects them to make an impact this season for the Ags.
The Ags tip off their second exhibition game of the year at 7 p.m. Friday when they take on EA Sports in the Spectrum.
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Aggie Spencer Nelson goes up for s hot over Puget´s Jeremy Cross Saturday night. (Photo by Ryan Talbot)