by Amos Naismith
November 20, 2007 (c) TrueAggies.com
Exclusive to TrueAggies.com
Logan, UT -- A start that brought back memories of successful years past, coupled with a complete defensive break down toward the end resulted in the Utah State Aggies squeaking out a 71-68 win over Austin Peay at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Tuesday night.
Led by Jaycee Carroll who scored a game-leading 20 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, the Aggie effort was spread throughout the team as Gary Wilkinson (19), freshman Tai Wesley (12), and Steve DuCharme (10) all reached double figures for Utah State.
Wesley and Wilkinson added an increased level of intensity that helped to propel the weary Aggies through a tough game in the middle of their tight early season schedule. The friendly confines of the Spectrum also helped the Ags halt a two-game losing streak that started on a road trip to California over the weekend. However, with many students having already left campus for the Thanksgiving holiday, a lean crowd of 7,900 watched the Aggies keep their perfect home record intact for this season.
Things looked to be leaning in the favor of Utah State from the tip-off. The Aggies quickly took the lead and never gave it up throughout the duration of a tight game. The Governors of Austin Peay struggled to find consistency in their shooting while - typical of USU this season - the Aggies allowed the visitors plenty of open looks at the basket. Luckily, Austin Peay only hit a dismal 10 of their 30 shots in the opening period, and USU took a 36-24 lead into the break.
On the other side of the intermission, the Governors started hitting their shots, putting 60% of their chances in the hole during the half. The Aggies were less proficient and their lead dwindled. With as little as 6:15 to play Utah State led by 14. Then in the final minute the difference got as small as three points.
During that last minute, the Aggies threw the ball around trying to kill the clock. But, as Kris Clark charged toward the hoop because the shot clock was about to expire, Todd Babington swiped the ball away for APSU with 17 seconds to play. The Governors broke down court and then tried to set someone up to get the equalizing 3-pointer. Luckily for the Aggies, the ball fell to the hands of Derek Wright - who was 0-4 on the night from behind the arc. Wright's fifth try, with the clock winding down, would not fall either.
Utah State now heads into the South Padre Island Invitational as they face Vanderbilt from the SEC on Friday and then either Iowa or Bradley the following night.
You can email feedback, or comments and suggestions to Amos at amosnaismith@trueaggies.com
Official Basketball Box Score
Austin Peay vs Utah State
11/20/07 7:05 p.m. at Logan, Utah (Dee Glen Smith Spetrum)
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VISITORS: Austin Peay 1-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Reed, Drake......... f 4-7 0-0 6-6 4 3 7 3 14 4 1 0 1 38
24 Duncan, Kyle........ f 2-5 2-4 0-1 1 0 1 3 6 1 3 0 0 23
15 Lockett, Fernandez.. g 7-12 0-1 3-3 1 2 3 3 17 2 0 1 0 39
20 Wright, Derek....... g 2-9 0-5 0-0 0 0 0 2 4 2 2 0 0 24
32 Babington, Todd..... g 4-11 2-9 1-2 1 3 4 4 11 5 0 0 1 28
03 Brown, Caleb........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8
10 Fields, Ernest...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
11 Harriford, Brandon.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4
22 Channels, Wes....... 6-10 2-3 2-2 0 2 2 5 16 1 1 0 2 32
TEAM................ 1 1 1
Totals.............. 25-55 6-23 12-14 8 11 19 21 68 17 8 1 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3% 2nd Half: 15-25 60.0% Game: 45.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-13 23.1% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 26.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 11-11 100 % Game: 85.7% 0
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HOME TEAM: Utah State 3-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
40 DuCharme, Stephen... f 4-6 0-0 2-2 1 3 4 2 10 1 1 0 0 29
55 Wilkinson, Gary..... f 8-8 0-0 3-5 2 3 5 4 19 1 1 0 0 30
10 Clark, Kris......... g 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 5 4 0 0 26
11 Spraggins, DeUndrae. g 2-3 0-0 4-5 0 3 3 4 8 2 2 0 1 22
20 Carroll, Jaycee..... g 8-15 2-7 2-2 1 6 7 0 20 8 0 0 0 40
05 Williams, Pooh...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
15 Stephens, Desmond... 0-2 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 2 1 1 0 1 14
24 Newbold, Tyler...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 3 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 11
34 Niang, Modou........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
42 Wesley, Tai......... 4-4 0-0 4-4 0 3 3 5 12 1 2 0 0 18
TEAM................ 1
Totals.............. 26-40 2-10 17-20 5 24 29 20 71 20 16 0 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-21 66.7% 2nd Half: 12-19 63.2% Game: 65.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-7 100 % 2nd Half: 10-13 76.9% Game: 85.0% 1
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Officials: Randy McCall, Winston Smith, Tony Padilla
Technical fouls: Austin Peay-None. Utah State-None.
Attendance: 7900
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Austin Peay................... 24 44 - 68
Utah State.................... 36 35 - 71
ID-569021
Points in the paint-APSU 24,USU 26. Points off turnovers-APSU 17,USU 7.
2nd chance points-APSU 9,USU 7. Fast break points-APSU 0,USU 0.
Bench points-APSU 16,USU 16. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-APSU 2nd-00:48, USU 2nd-03:21.
Largest lead-APSU None, USU by 14 1st-10:45.