Feb. 4, 2005

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -

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UTAH STATE AGGIES
Game-Day Notes
at UC Santa Barbara, Feb. 5, 2005

UP NEXT
Utah State (16-5, 7-3) will conclude its four-game road stretch at UC Santa Barbara (8-11, 5-6) on Sat., Feb. 5 at 8:05 p.m. (MST).

LOOKING AT UTAH STATE
Utah State is 16-5 on the season and in third-place in the Big West Conference with a 7-3 league record following an 81-57 road win at Cal Poly on Thursday night. The Aggies are led by senior forward Spencer Nelson who is averaging a team-best 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.14 assists per game, while shooting 60.6 percent from the field and 78.9 percent from the free throw line. Freshman guard Jaycee Carroll is averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range, while junior forward Nate Harris is averaging 13.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 65.1 percent from the field and 74.0 percent from the free throw line. As a team, USU is averaging 73.3 points and shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from three-point range, while its opponents are averaging 58.4 points and shooting 39.5 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three-point range.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
UC Santa Barbara is 8-11 on the year and in sixth-place in the Big West Conference with a 5-6 league record following a 54-40 win against Idaho on Thursday night. The Gauchos, who are 7-2 at home this year, are led by senior guard Chrismen Oliver who is averaging 10.9 points and 3.0 assists per game, and junior guard Josh Davis who is averaging 9.9 points and 4.8 rebounds, while junior forward Cameron Goettsche averages 8.2 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds. As a team, UC Santa Barbara is averaging 59.3 points and shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three-point range, while its opponents are averaging 61.1 points and shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three-point range.

UTAH STATE-UC SANTA BARBARA SERIES
Utah State and UC Santa Barbara will be meeting for the 58th time this weekend with the Aggies holding a 35-22 all-time advantage, which includes a 13-12 road record. The first game played in the series was on Dec. 7, 1970 in Logan with USU recording a 66-64 win. USU won the last meeting between the two teams in Logan on Jan. 6, 2005 by the final score of 80-70. The last time the two teams played in Santa Barbara was on Jan. 8, 2004 with the Aggies recording a 74-67 win. Overall, Utah State has won nine of the last 11 games played. The last time UCSB won a game in the series was on Feb. 6, 2003 in Santa Barbara, 62-50. Utah State has won each of the last three games played in the series and six of the last seven games played in Santa Barbara.

AGGIES ON THE ROAD
Utah State has now won three straight road games after beginning league play with three straight road losses. Utah State is now 44-24 (.647) on the road over the last six years and 46-33 (.582) on the road under head coach Stew Morrill. In Big West games, USU is 34-15 (.694) on the road over the last six years and 35-22 (.614) on the road in league play under Morrill.

VERSUS THE BIG WEST CONFERENCE
Over the last six years, Utah State is 78-18 (.813) against the Big West during the regular season and 11-2 (.846) against the league in the postseason for an overall record of 89-20 (.817) against Big West opponents. USU has now won 26 of its last 30 Big West games dating back to the 2002-03 season and 46 of its last 56 games overall.

AGGIES NOTES
Utah State is 7-2 (.778) in games played on Feb. 5 and 64-17 (.790) in games played on Saturday's under Morrill.

AGGIES IN FEBRUARY
Utah State has won five straight games during the month of February and is 34-11 (.756) during the month of February under Morrill, which includes a 15-10 (.600) road record.

VERSUS THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Over the last six years, Utah State is 78-17 (.821) against teams from the state of California, which includes a 26-13 (.667) road record. This year, USU is 10-2 versus teams from California.

NELSON MOVING UP THE CAREER CHARTS
With his 17 points against Cal Poly, senior forward Spencer Nelson now has 1,094 points in his career, which ranks 24th all-time at Utah State. He is now just 16 points shy of moving ahead of Troy Collier (1,109) and into 23rd-place on the all-time list. With his seven rebounds at Cal Poly, he now has 719 in his career and is just two shy of moving ahead of Bob Lauriski (720) and into eighth-place on the all-time rebounding list. Nelson is also fifth all-time at USU in blocks with 57 and 16th all-time in assists with 258. He now needs just three assists to move ahead of Rich McElrath (260) and into 15th-place and 10 assists to move ahead of Blair Reed (266) and into 14th-place on the all-time list.

NELSON HAS ANOTHER OUTSTANDING GAME
Senior forward Spencer Nelson had another outstanding game at Cal Poly Thursday night, as he scored 17 points on 7-8 shooting from the field, 1-1 shooting from three-point range and 2-3 shooting from the free-throw line. Nelson has now scored in double-figures 18 times this year and 53 times in his career. He also had eight assists against the Mustangs, matching his season-high to go along with seven rebounds.

UTAH STATE SHOOTING THE BALL EXTREMELY WELL
As of Feb. 1, Utah State was second in the country in field goal percentage at 52.8 percent. After shooting 63.0 percent from the field against Cal Poly, USU is now shooting 53.3 percent from the field. USU has now shot over 50 percent 17 times this year and in 13 of its last 14 games. That 63.0 percent shooting from USU was its best from the field since shooting 65.3 percent against Loyola Marymount, a span of 10 games. It was also the best shooting performance on the road by an Aggie team since shooting 63.4 percent from the field at Cal State Northridge on Feb. 12, 2004. USU was also 8-17 (.471) from three-point range against the Mustangs. As of Feb. 1, USU was 12th in the country in three-point shooting at 40.4 percent and is now shooting 40.8 percent from three-point range. USU has now shot over 60 percent from the field four times this year and over 40 percent from three-point range 12 times.

AGGIES MAKE STATEMENT ON THE ROAD
After opening Big West play with three straight road losses, Utah State is making a statement on the road recording its three straight road wins by at least 20 points, and all three of those wins (25 vs. UC Irvine, 31 vs. Long Beach State, 24 vs Cal Poly) are the largest road wins by a Big West team this year. Since the 1957-58 season no other Utah State team has ever won three straight road games by 20 or more points. In fact, the only other time since 1957-58 that an Aggie team has won three straight road games by double-figures was during the 1959-60 season.

MORRILL NOW HAS THIRD-MOST WINS IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill now has the third-most wins in Utah State history with 159, moving ahead of H. Cecil Baker who had 158 career wins at USU. E. Lowell Romney holds the all-time record for wins at USU with 225, while Ladell Andersen has 173 career wins. Morrill is 159-51 (.757) in his seventh year at Utah State. In comparison, coach Baker was 158-141 (.528) in 11 years as the head coach at USU from 1951-61.

KEEPING IT UNDER 60
Utah State is allowing just 58.4 points per game on the year and USU is now 10-1 on the year and 78-7 under head coach Stew Morrill when holding its opponents under 60 points.

UTAH STATE TRENDS
Utah State is now 14-3 on the year when leading at the half; 8-0 when scoring at least 70 points; 15-2 when they shoot better from the field than its opponent; 11-0 when they shoot better from three-point range than its opponents; and 14-1 when they out-rebound its opponent.

RECAPPING THE CAL POLY GAME
Spencer Nelson scored a game-high 17 points to lead Utah State to an easy 81-57 road win at Cal Poly Thursday night at Mott Gym. Utah State (16-5, 7-3 in the Big West) is riding a season-high five-game winning streak, including three straight road wins. Cal Poly (4-15, 2-9 in the Big West) lost for the ninth time in its last 10 games. Utah State opened the game on a 13-4 run and lead 23-7 with 13:00 minutes left in the half. With USU up 40-25, Cal Poly scored six of the final seven points to cut the lead to 10 at 41-31 at the break. The Aggies shot a blistering 66.7 percent (16-24) from the field in the first half and held the Mustangs to 40.6 percent shooting, but USU committed nine first half turnovers to just two for Cal Poly to keep the game close. The Mustangs opened the second half by scoring the first five points to cut the Aggie lead to five and trailed by just five at 45-40 with 16:13 remaining only to see USU go on a 25-4 run over the next 10-plus minutes highlighted by seven quick points from reserve John Neil and nine points from Nelson to put the game away. Utah State's biggest lead of the game came with 2:12 remaining on a layup by Neil to give the Aggies a 79-49 advantage. For the game, Utah State shot 63.0 percent from the field, marking the 13th time in the last 14 games that USU has shot over 50 percent from the field. Defensively, USU held Cal Poly to just 38.6 percent shooting, including 11.1 percent shooting from three-point range as the Mustangs were just 2-18 from behind the arc. Along with his 17 points, Nelson added a game-high eight assists to go along with seven rebounds, while Jaycee Carroll scored 12 points and Cass Matheus had 10. Andrew Haskins led Cal Poly with 12 points, while Glenn Jones scored 10.

UTAH STATE RIDING SEASON-HIGH FIVE-GAME WINNING STREAK
Utah State is riding a season-high five-game winning streak, and the Aggies have scored at least 70 points in all five of those games. The last time a Stew Morrill coached team scored 70-plus points in five straight games was during the 2001-02 season, and all five of those games were at home.

LOOKING AT UTAH STATE'S STATS DURING ITS FIVE-GAME WINNING STREAK
Over its last five games, all wins, Utah State is averaging 78.8 points per game, while allowing only 53.0 for a scoring margin of plus 25.8. USU is shooting 56.5 percent from the field and 51.4 percent from three-point range, while holding its opponents to 35.7 percent shooting from the field and just 26.4 percent shooting from three-point range. USU is also out-rebounding its opponents by 9.4 boards per game (36.8-27.4) and has 38 more assists (87-49). From the free throw line, Utah State is 62-90 (.689), while its opponents are just 32-47 (.681). And finally, USU has committed a total of 50 fouls over its last five games for an average of 10.0 per game, while its opponents have 74 fouls, for an average of 14.8.

AGGIES LIMITING ITS FOULS
After being called for 25 fouls in Utah State's 73-66 double-overtime road loss at Pacific and 25 fouls in its 70-67 road loss at Cal State Northridge, USU has been called for a total of 50 fouls in its last five games, for an average of 10.0 fouls per game. As of Feb. 1, Utah State was seventh in the country in fouls committed with 14.6 per game. As of Feb. 4, USU is committing 14.48 fouls per game.

UTAH STATE PLAYING SOLID DEFENSE
Utah State has been playing solid defense as of late as USU has held each of its last four opponents under 60 points and four of its last five opponents under 40 percent shooting. On the year, Utah State has held nine opponents under 40 percent shooting and as of Feb. 1, ranked ninth in the country in scoring defense (58.5) and 28th in the country in field goal percentage defense (39.5). Against Cal Poly, USU limited the Mustangs to just 20 rebounds, which was the second-fewest by a USU opponent this year, along with allowing just 2-18 three-point field goals, which is the fewest made by a USU opponent this season.

AGGIES LEADING AT THE HALF
Utah State is now 15-3 on the season and 121-11 over the last six years when leading at the half.

UTAH STATE PLAYER NOTE-ABLES
* For only the fifth time this year, Nate Harris did not score in double-figures as he had nine points against Cal Poly. * Jaycee Carroll scored in double-figures for the first time in three games and for the 16th time this year. * John Neil tied his season-high with nine points (all in the second half) against Cal Poly. * Cass Matheus scored in double-figures for the second straight game and for the fifth time this year. He also added his 11th dunk of the year against Cal Poly. * Marques Crane saw his first action in 11 games against Cal Poly.

PLAYER NOTES

#1 Marques Crane- Saw his first action in 11 games against Cal Poly Saturday night as he scored one point and had one assist and one steal in 10 minutes... Averaging 5.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from the free throw line.

#2 David Pak- Is averaging 10.2 points and 3.6 assists over his last five games, while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from three-point range... Averaging 6.4 points and 2.6 assists per game on the year, while shooting 41.3 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from three-point range... As of Jan. 31 he ranked sixth in the Big West in three-point shooting at 41.8 percent.

#3 Cass Matheus - Averaging 7.8 points and 2.4 rebounds over his last five games, while shooting 61.9 percent from the field... On the year, he is averaging 5.8 points and 2.0 rebounds, while shooting 59.4 percent from the field.

#4 Nate Harris - Over his last five games, he is averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds, while shooting 57.5 percent from the field... On the year, he is averaging 13.5 points and 5.9 rebounds, while shooting 65.1 percent. As of Jan. 31, he ranked first in the Big West in field goal percentage (.653), ninth in scoring (13.8), seventh in rebounding (5.9), eighth in blocks (0.75), and ninth in free throw shooting (.739).

#20 Jaycee Carroll - Is averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range... As of Jan. 31, he was first in the league in three-point shooting, fifth in the league in scoring and fourth in field goal percentage... Over his last five games, he is averaging 11.0 points and 4.2 rebounds, while shooting 54.1 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from three-point range.

#21 Calvin Brown - Averaging 1.4 points and 1.6 assists per game... Has 31 assists and just 11 turnovers on the year.

#23 Chris Huber - Averaging 4.5 points and 2.0 assists per game, while shooting 38.4 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from three-point range... Over his last five games, he is averaging 5.6 points and 2.0 assists while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three-point range.

#25 John Neil - Averaging 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.0 percent from the field... Over his last five games, he is averaging 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds, while shooting 71.4 percent from the field.

#30 Jason Williams - Is averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds over his last five games, while shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from three-point range... On the year, he is averaging 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds, while shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point range.

#31 Ian McVey - Averaging 1.2 points and 1.0 rebounds per game... Over his last five games, he is averaging 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds.

#32 Spencer Nelson - Leads the team in scoring (15.4), rebounding (8.2), and assists (5.14)... Is shooting 60.6 percent from the field and 78.9 percent from the free throw line... Over his last five games, he is averaging 16.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists, while shooting 69.8 percent from the field, 75.0 percent from three-point range, and 72.0 percent from the free throw line... As of Jan. 31, he ranked first in the Big West in rebounding, second in field goal percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79), third in scoring and assists, fifth in free throw shooting, and 10th in steals (1.25).