Men's
basketball team looks to bounce back at home
By C. Jake Williams
February 20, 2008 | A three-game road trip turned into
a three-game losing streak for the Utah State men's
basketball team these past two weeks. The Aggies (18-9,
8-4 WAC), who are now fourth in the WAC, play host to
UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Friday in the Spectrum.
Friday's game is part of ESPNU's BracketBuster program,
a weekend of non-conference games between schools expected
to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
The three losses came at Nevada, Hawaii, and San Jose
State. Utah State defeated all three earlier in the
season, but all those were home games.
Guard Jaycee Carroll averaged 29 points and 6.7 rebounds
per game during the losing streak, both are above his
season averages.
Nevada started the skid behind Marcelus Kemp's 35
points on Feb. 11. The USU starters not named Carroll
were balanced offensively as all four scored between
seven and 13 points, but the final score read 85-80.
Next came Hawaii on Feb. 16, but the combination of
all five Warrior starters scoring in double figures
and two USU starters no-showing offensively resulted
in a 71-66 loss. Freshman starter Tyler Newbold scored
just two points and Kris Clark added four more.
Desperate for a win, the Aggies traveled to San Jose
State Feb. 18, but once again had two starters score
in the lower single digits. Forward Tai Wesley was ejected
without scoring a point because of a blatant foul 90
seconds into the game, and Gary Wilkinson had matching
foul and point totals. He had three of each.
Friday's game will not affect USU's place in the WAC
but does have NCAA tournament ramifications. It's hard
to imagine the Aggies will be invited to the Big Dance
if they suffer a four-game losing streak, especially
since this BracketBuster game puts USU under the national
microscope. Again, tipoff is at 7 p.m. Friday in the
Spectrum.
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