by Amos Naismith
February 9, 2008 (c) TrueAggies.com
Exclusive to TrueAggies.com
Logan, UT --On a night where Utah State made far less than half their shots and were out rebounded by nine boards on their home floor, the Aggies squeaked out a 78-73 victory over the Spartans of San Jose State on Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Even while hitting half his shots, Jaycee Carroll led with 26 points and had a game best 11 rebounds. Gary Wilkinson followed with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Tai Wesley scored 13 and didn't grab a single rebound.
Wesley not getting any rebounds is one example of how the night went for the Aggies, as they only gathered in 26 boards to the Spartans 35.
Several points for the Spartans came from follow-ups after their 17 offensive rebounds.
Play in the opening half was not indicative of the league leading Aggies playing the seventh place team Spartans. Although Utah State jumped out to the initial lead, they could never get more than six points clear of San Jose in the first period.
San Jose State even took a 24-23 lead with 5:10 left to play in the half, which they kept until Carroll brought the Aggies level with the Spartans at 32-32 just before the intermission.
Utah State still struggled to take control of the game following the break. Each side traded the lead and never built up a lead of more than four points in the initial five minutes of the half.
Then something happened that wasn't entirely uncommon, yet it had a memorable result. With just under 15 minutes to play, and the Aggies up 42-40, Carroll steals the ball near the scorer’s table and gets a pass off to Kris Clark, who is crossing the court toward Carroll.
As Clark breaks for the hoop, Wesley sets a screen that the unsuspecting DaShawn Wright of San Jose State makes full contact with and is propelled to the floor.
The Aggies scored on the play, after Carroll followed Clarks failed layup attempt with a successful layup of his own, and a media timeout was called. And even while both teams are walking to their benches Wright is still laid out on the court. He wasn't unconscious, but visibly shaken. From the replay on the jumbo-tron you could see why it took him a minute to remember where he was. Wright met a wall known as Tai Wesley.
From that point the Aggies eventually got to their biggest lead of the game - 62-47 with 7:44 remaining - and never relinquished that lead for the rest of the game.
Physical moments like Wesley’s will need to come in a more abundant supply if the Aggies are to have a chance when they play Nevada in Reno on Monday night.You can email feedback, or comments and suggestions to Amos at amosnaismith@trueaggies.com
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
San Jose State vs Utah State
02/09/08 7:05 p.m. at Logan, Utah (Dee Glen Smith Spectrum)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: San Jose State 10-13, 2-8 WAC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Pierce, Tim......... f 5-16 4-11 1-2 0 2 2 3 15 0 1 0 0 31
22 Webster, C.J........ f 9-13 0-0 3-4 1 5 6 4 21 4 1 1 0 34
30 Oakes, Chris........ c 5-9 0-0 1-3 6 4 10 2 11 1 3 2 0 23
20 Wright, DaShawn..... g 5-10 0-0 2-3 1 2 3 4 12 1 1 0 1 36
24 Hill, Jamon......... g 2-4 0-2 3-3 2 2 4 0 7 5 3 0 1 38
21 Thomas, DeVonte..... 0-3 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 9
32 Peterson, Mac....... 1-4 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 2 2 0 0 15
40 Caballero, Oliver... 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 1 2 0 2 0 0 8
44 Holloway, Lance..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 3 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 6
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 29-63 5-17 10-15 17 20 37 20 73 14 13 3 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 16-36 44.4% Game: 46.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 29.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 66.7% 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Utah State 18-6, 8-1 WAC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
42 Wesley, Tai......... f 4-5 0-0 5-5 0 0 0 4 13 1 0 1 0 30
55 Wilkinson, Gary..... f 4-9 0-2 7-8 2 5 7 3 15 2 1 0 1 29
10 Clark, Kris......... g 3-7 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 2 8 6 0 0 2 29
20 Carroll, Jaycee..... g 8-16 2-6 8-9 5 6 11 1 26 1 4 0 2 39
24 Newbold, Tyler...... g 2-6 1-2 3-4 1 2 3 3 8 0 0 0 0 29
05 Williams, Pooh...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 12
15 Stephens, Desmond... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 0 1 0 1 11
40 DuCharme, Stephen... 1-6 0-2 3-4 1 3 4 0 5 1 1 0 0 21
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 23-52 4-16 28-32 10 19 29 16 78 13 7 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31 38.7% 2nd Half: 11-21 52.4% Game: 44.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-5 100 % 2nd Half: 23-27 85.2% Game: 87.5% 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Jim Stupin, Lonnie Dixon, Ken Nielson
Technical fouls: San Jose State-None. Utah State-None.
Attendance: 10270
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
San Jose State................ 32 41 - 73
Utah State.................... 32 46 - 78
ID 569056
Points in the paint-SJSU 34,USU 20. Points off turnovers-SJSU 10,USU 14.
2nd chance points-SJSU 22,USU 9. Fast break points-SJSU 0,USU 0.
Bench points-SJSU 7,USU 8. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-8 times.
Last FG-SJSU 2nd-00:04, USU 2nd-01:45.
Largest lead-SJSU by 4 1st-04:45, USU by 15 2nd-07:44.