Ags gore Cougars
When the Utah State basketball team needed a spark Wednesday night, junior forward Nate Harris provided it.
Tied at 36 coming out of the locker room, Harris scored 14 second-half points to propel USU to a 71-57 victory over BYU in the Spectrum.
“Once you get rolling you kind of feel more comfortable and you kind of relax,” Harris said.
A relaxed Harris finished the night with a career-high 26 points to go along with three rebounds and three steals.
Teammate Spencer Nelson contributed 14 points and combined with Harris in the post to keep Cougar center Jared Jensen to just eight points on the night.
“It was a battle all night,” Nelson said. “Nate stepped up when he needed to. He did all the right things at all the right times.”
For BYU, guard Mike Hall came out hot, shooting 6-8 from the field and 3-3 from downtown in the first half for 15 points. Sophomore guard Austin Ainge, who came into Wednesday’s matchup averaging 2.5 points per game, added 11 first-half points of his own for the Cougars.
But improved defense from the Aggie guards shut down the BYU duo in the second half, holding both Hall and Ainge to just four points.
“The cold Wyoming winter of Jaycee Carroll kind of cooled him off,” Nelson said.
“He’s an excellent player and an excellent shooter,” Carroll said of Hall. “We tried to bear down and at least contest his shots.”
Aggie head coach Stew Morrill said he has been impressed with Carroll’s play thus far this season and love’s his attitude and work ethic. Carroll finished the night with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“He doesn’t think he’s a freshman,” Morrill said. “I love his enthusiasm and I really love it when he gets a bunch of rebounds and makes a few shots.”
Despite the win, Morrill and the Aggies won’t have much time to enjoy it as they begin preparations for another in-state rivalry game against Utah Saturday.
Players and coaches said they expect a difficult game matching up with the Utes, especially point guard Marc Jackson and center Andrew Bogut.
“They’re a super talented team,” Nelson said.
The Ags will also have to contest with the familiar face of Randy Rahe, a long-time assistant under Morrill who took a coaching position at Utah after last season.
“He’s a good friend and a good guy,” Nelson said. “I’m sure our crowd will get on him for going to Utah.”
While Rahe is extremely familiar with Morrill’s techniques and strategies, Nelson said he doesn’t believe the playbook will be shaken up much for the game.
“I think coach Morrill is going to play coach Morrill basketball – Aggie basketball,” Nelson said. “I don’t see us trying to change too many things.
“I’m sure we’ll throw something new in to try to counter act Utah because they’re such a great team. But we’re just going to play the way we play.”
Still, the Ags will have the advantage of playing in front of packed crowd in the Spectrum when the Utes come to town.
“The crowd is always huge for us here and we expect nothing less from them on Saturday,” Harris said.
In his first action of the season, forward Jason Williams recorded one steal in three minutes of play Wednesday.
“He’s just not ready yet,” Morrill said. “He’s only had two days of practice. We’ve got a couple more days of practice maybe he’ll be able to play a little more against Utah.
“We’ve got to get him and Marques Crane playing they way they can.”
Morrill said Crane, who finished Wednesday’s game with four points, has been suffering through tendonitis the last few weeks.
Junior college transfer David Pak started at point guard for the Aggies Wednesday and Morrill said he was pleased with Pak’s improvement.
“I thought he was a lot better tonight,” Morrill said. “Sometimes all the cards and hand signals we do can get a bit confusing for a junior college player.”
Pak finished the game with 10 points and two assists.
The Aggies and the Cougars will rematch Dec. 18 in Provo and Morrill said Wednesday’s win would give his team confidence and momentum going into the second game.
“It’s a lot better than losing,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I learned a long time ago that winning is a lot better than losing. It’s amazing the difference.”
-acf@cc.usu.edu
USU and BYU PLAYERS shakes hands following Wednesday night´s 71-57 Aggie victory over the Cougars in the Spectrum. The teams will rematch on Dec. 18 in Provo. (Photo by John Zsiray)