Nov. 23, 2007

Final Stats

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - Stephen DuCharme scored a game-high 20 points, but it wasn't enough to off-set a balanced Vanderbilt attack as Utah State lost to the Commodores, 77-56, in the semifinals of the South Padre Island Invitational here Friday night.

Vanderbilt improves to 4-0 on the season with the win, while Utah State falls to 3-4 with the loss.

Shan Foster had a team-high 15 points for Vanderbilt as all five starters scored in double-figures. Jaycee Carroll was the only other USU player to finish in double-figures as the senior guard had 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

Utah State scored the first two points of the game on a jumper by DuCharme and extended its lead to seven on a pair of free throws by Carroll to make it 14-7 with 13:28 remaining in the opening half. Vanderbilt then scored 15 of the next 17 points to lead 22-16 with 7:36 to play and lead by seven at 27-20 before the Aggies tied it at 28-all on two more Carroll free throws. Each team exchanged buckets in the final minute and VU went into the locker room with a 33-30 lead.

In the first-half, Utah State shot 56.5 percent from the field (13-23) as compared to just 36.1 percent shooting for Vanderbilt (13-36), but the Aggies also committed 12 first-half turnovers, while the Commodores had just five turnovers.

Vanderbilt opened the second-half with seven straight points to take a 40-30 lead before Kris Clark got Utah State on the board with a jumper. VU extended its lead to 13 on a three-pointer by Foster and the Aggies never got within single digits again as USU ended up losing by 21 points.

In the second-half, Vanderbilt shot a blistering 60.9 percent from the field (14-23), while limiting Utah State to 38.5 percent shooting (10-26). The Commodores also made 5-of-9 three-pointers after the break.

Overall, Utah State finished the game by shooting 46.9 percent from the field (23-49) as compared to 45.8 percent shooting for Vanderbilt (27-59). The Commodores also shot 38.9 percent from three-point range (7-18), while USU made just 3-of-11 (.273) from behind the arc. VU also out-rebounded the Aggies, 40-28, and committed eight fewer turnovers (19-11).

Utah State will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 24 when it plays Iowa at 4 p.m. (MT) in the final day of competition at the South Padre Island Invitational.