Out like a lamb: USU stumbles in the first round of the Big Dance and loses to Arizona
BOISE, Idaho – The power might as well have gone out in the arena for the second half of Thursday’s first-round NCAA Tournament game, as the Aggies shot 26.7 percent from the field in the half to lose 66-53 to Arizona.
“A lot of that had to do with the pressure on the ball,” Arizona coach Lute Olsen said. “We were just more aggressive, not only with how we defended, but how we went to the glass.”
Jaycee Carroll scored 12 of the Ags 24 points in the second half. Carroll hit five 3-pointers as he finished with a game high 18 points.
With the Aggies leading 31-29 near the start of the second half, the Wildcats went on a 13-0 run thanks to five points from Salim Stoudamire and four each from Channing Frye and Hassan Adams.
The Aggies closed to within three points after two free throws from Spencer Nelson and two 3-pointers from Jaycee Carroll.
The ‘Cats then went on an 8-0 run and the Aggies never got to within nine points for the rest of the game.
“They are known for their runs,” Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill said. “They got out in transition and hit the boards and they fed off that in their defensive intensity.”
“We talked about them making a run at us,” Aggie forward Nate Harris said. “We had to make sure it wasn’t a big run. They made that run and we couldn’t weather the storm.”
The athleticism of Arizona surfaced in the second half as the Wildcats turned up the ball pressure and also hit the boards.
“They just kind of overwhelmed us with their athleticism and quickness,” Morrill said. “Their defense was spectacular.”
Not only were the Ags out rebounded in the second half, but the 6-foot-1-inch Carroll was the Ag’s leading rebounder for the game with six.
The Aggie post players made only three field goals for the entire second half, as the Aggies were held to four points in the paint, 25 percent of their first-half total.
“I was trying to be a force in the middle and block everything,” Frye said. “We had great ball pressure and if [Utah State] can’t get the ball into operational areas, it just kind of messes up their offense.”
At the end of the first half the Aggies were up 29-26 after a 7-0 run keyed by a David Pak three pointer after two offensive rebounds.
The Aggies had eight second-chance points at the end of the first half from five offensive rebounds. Arizona didn’t have any second-chance points even though they grabbed four offensive boards in the half.
Pak set a season high for rebounds in the first half alone grabbing five, two of which were on the offensive end.
“At halftime, I thought we had the tempo where we needed to have it,” Morrill said. “We had a chance to compete in the game, and we played pretty well.”
Carroll, facing up against Stoudamire, scored one more point than Arizona’s leading scorer while shooting 5 percent better from beyond the arc.
Stoudamire was held 9 percent below his season 3-point average but his 38 percent was right on with his career tournament average.
Carroll also had four more rebounds, two more assists and two fewer turnovers than did Stoudamire.
“It was a great experience,” Carroll said of being matched up with Stoudamire, “to be able to run around with and chase and guard a guy with that kind of quickness and with that kind of athleticism and just that kind of basketball player.”
Carroll finished the game leading all scorers with 18 points for the Aggies.
After only five points in the first half, Stoudamire put up 17 points for the Wildcats.
Spencer Nelson played the game with the same sickness that hampered him earlier in the season, the flu.
He scored six points and grabbed only two rebounds.
“He’s had such a wonderful career,” Morrill said of Nelson. “He said he was going to give everything he had to the end, but he just didn’t have much.”
At least half the arena was filled with blue as some 1,700 Aggie fans made the trip to watch Utah State play.
-krn@cc.usu.edu
Aggie Jaycee Carroll stretches to pass the ball over Arizona´s Alim Stoudamire Thursday in Boise. (Photo by Ryan Talbot)
USU´s Cass Matheus prepares to pass the ball while being guarded by Arizona´s Channing Frye in the Ag´s game Thursday. (Photo by Ryan Talbot)