Nov. 24, 2007
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
GAME 8
Utah State (3-4) vs. Iowa (4-1)
Saturday Nov. 24 * 5:00 p.m. (MT) * South Padre Island, Texas
UP NEXT
Utah State (3-4) will play Iowa (4-1) on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 5:05 p.m. (CT) in the final day of competition at the 2007 South Padre Island Invitational. Fans can listen to the game live on the Aggie Radio Network or watch it live via the internet at www.southpadreinvitational.com.
LOOKING AT UTAH STATE
Utah State is 3-4 on the season after losing to Vanderbilt, 77-56, in the semifinals of the South Padre Island Invitational Friday night. USU is led by senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll who is averaging 19.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.9 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from three-point range and 92.9 percent from the free throw line and senior forward Stephen DuCharme who is averaging 12.7 points and 6.6 rebounds, while shooting 65.5 percent from the field and 76.5 percent from the free throw line. Junior forward Gary Wilkinson is also scoring in double-figures for USU as he is averaging 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds and shooting 61.7 percent from the field and 78.3 percent from the free throw line. As a team, Utah State is averaging 65.0 points and shooting 46.9 percent from the field, 35.1 percent from three-point range and 78.5 percent from the free throw line. Defensivley, USU is allowing 69.0 points, while its opponents are shooting 44.7 percent from the field, 37.1 percent from three-point range and 72.3 percent from the free throw line.
UTAH STATE FOLLOWING A LOSS
Utah State is 2-1 on the year and 44-13 (.772) over the last nine years following a loss.
UTAH STATE OFF TO A SLOW START
Utah State's 3-4 record to start the 2007-08 season is its worst start to a season since the 1995-96 season, when that team started the year with a 3-5 record.
UTAH STATE STRUGGLING AWAY FROM HOME
Utah State is 0-4 in games played away from home this year with a 0-3 road record and a 0-1 record on neutral courts. Overall, USU has lost six straight games away from home dating back to last season.
ON NEUTRAL COURTS UNDER COACH MORRILL
Utah State is 28-11 (.718) in games played on neutral courts under Coach Morrill during the last nine years and had won five straight before losing to Vanderbilt, 77-56, Friday night.
AGGIES STRUGGLE WHEN CARROLL DOESN'T GET 20
Since the beginning of the 2006-07 season, Utah State is 20-5 when senior guard Jaycee Carroll scores at least 20 points in a game, but just 6-11 when he is held under 20 points. Carroll scored a season-low 11 points in his last game against Vanderbilt.
AGGIES FINISH TOUGH STRETCH AGAINST IOWA
Utah State's game against Iowa will be its eighth game in 16 days to start the 2007-08 season. Following its game against the Hawkeyes, USU will play a total of four games over the next 25 days.
SCOUTING IOWA
Iowa is 4-1 on the season after losing to Bradley, 67-56, in its last game. The Hawkeyes are led by senior guard Justin Johnson who is averaging 15.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. As a team, Iowa is scoring 60.0 points and shooting 45.7 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from three-point range and 67.7 percent from the free throw line, while its opponents are scoring 50.8 points and shooting 35.6 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three-point range and 59.0 percent from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes return three starters and six letterwinners from last year's team that went 17-14 on the season and finished tied for fourth in the Big Ten Conference with a 9-7 league record. Todd Lickliter is in his first season as Iowa's head coach after recording a 131-61 record during the past six years as the head coach at Butler.
STATE-IOWA SERIES HISTORY
Utah State and Iowa have played twice all-time with the Hawkeyes winning both games. The first game played in the series was on Jan. 2, 1950 in Iowa City, with Iowa recording a 62-60 win. The last time the two teams played one another it was in Louisville, Ky., in the first round of the 1983 NCAA Tournament with the Hawkeyes winning, 64-59.
VERSUS THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE
Utah State is 9-11 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference and the last time USU played a team from the Big Ten was when it lost at Michigan, 68-58, in the first round of the 2007 National Invitation Tournament. The last time USU defeated a team from the Big Ten Conference was on Nov. 21, 2004 when it defeated Northwestern, 64-57, at the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. Utah State head coach Stew Morrill is 2-2 all-time against the Big Ten Conference, defeating Northwestern and Ohio State and losing at Michigan while the head coach at USU, and losing to Minnesota while at Colorado State.
AGGIES ON SATURDAY
Utah State is 84-33 (.718) in games played on Saturday under Coach Morrill, including an 0-2 record this year. USU is also 4-2 in known games played on Nov. 24.
RECAPPING THE VANDERBILT GAME
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).
DuCHARME RECORDS FOURTH CAREER 20-POINT GAME
Senior forward Stephen DuCharme recorded his fourth career 20-point game against Vanderbilt Friday night as he scored 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting. The 10 field goals made also tie a single-game high for DuCharme as he also made 10 field goals against Drake last year.
CARROLL SCORES IN DOUBLE-FIGURES AGAIN
Senior guard Jaycee Carroll scored in double-figures for the seventh straight game this year and for the 93rd time in his career with a season-low 11 points against Vanderbilt. Carroll is now tied with Kendall Youngblood (1989-92) for second-place all-time at USU in 10-point games.
CARROLL CLOSING IN ON FOURTH-PLACE ON THE ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
With his 11 points against Vanderbilt, senior guard Jaycee Carroll has now scored 1,875 career points and is just 15 points shy of tying Cornell Green (1960-62) for fourth-place on USU's all-time scoring list with 1,890 career points and just 25 points shy of tying Brian Jackson (1978-81) for third-place with 1,900 career points.
CARROLL 21ST ALL-TIME AT UTAH STATE IN ASSISTS
With his four assists against Vanderbilt, senior guard Jaycee Carroll now has 210 career assists to rank 21st all-time in school history. Overall, Carroll has recorded 12 assists in his last two games after starting the season with just four assists in his first five games.
CARROLL CONTINUES TO REBOUND
Senior guard Jaycee Carroll continues to rebound the ball well for Utah State as he is tied for the team lead with 6.6 rebounds per game after leading the team as a junior with 6.3 rebounds per game. Overall, Carroll has 517 rebounds and is now just 20 rebounds shy of tying Jim Boatwright (1972-74) for 20th on USU's all-time rebounding list with 537.
AGGIES TURNING IT OVER
Utah State is averaging 18.3 turnovers per game and has had at least 15 turnovers in every game this year.
UTAH STATE'S SECOND-HALF WOES
Utah State has had trouble defending in the second half thus far this year as teams are scoring 29.1 points in the first half and 39.9 points in the second half. Furthermore, USU is limiting its opponents to 39.1 percent shooting in the first-half (78-199), but allowing 50.8 percent in the second-half (91-179).
DID YOU KNOW?
Senior guard Jaycee Carroll has made at least one three-point basket in 28 straight games and in 95 of his 106 career games at Utah State.
NOTE-ABLES VERSUS VANDERBILT
* Kris Clark had a season-low three assists against Vanderbilt. In his first six games of the year, Clark had at least four assists in every game and at least five assists in four of the six games.
* Junior guard/forward DeUndrae Spraggins recorded a season-high five assists and played a season-high 24 minutes.
* Senior guard Jaycee Carroll recorded a season-high three steals.
* Junior guard Desmond Stephens tied his season-high with six points.
* Redshirt freshman forward Matt Formisano scored a season-high two points.
* Utah State got out-rebounded for just the second time this year. The 12 rebound margin against Vanderbilt was the largest for a USU team since Nevada out-rebounded USU in Reno during the 2006-07 season.
