Aggies
use 'sixth, seventh and eighth man' to top No. 9 Nevada
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By Dave Archer
March 2, 2007 | Talk about your David and Goliath
match-up.
Coming in with an impressive 26-2 overall record,
including a 13-1 mark in WAC play, No. 9 Nevada
had every reason to be confident it could knock
off the Utah State Aggies at the Spectrum Thursday
night. After all, any team touting 6-11 giant
Nick Fazekas, a national player of the year candidate
averaging 20.9 points and 11.4 rebounds per game,
should feel good.
The Aggies, however, were more than happy to
assume the role of giant killers.
Led by three players in double figures, Utah
State (21-9, 9-6 WAC) overcame being outrebounded
45-33 and pull out a thrilling 79-77 overtime
upset of Nevada (26-3, 13-2 WAC) in front of a
raucous, sell-out crowd of 10,270.
"(This was a) fun win, a huge win,"
said head coach Stew Morrill. "It's very
obvious how good Nevada is, they've got so many
weapons, great young players. . . . It was a special
win for the Aggies."
Not only was the contest a fun one for the players,
but also for the fans in attendance, who witnessed
the Aggies' first home win against a top-10 opponent
since knocking off No. 9 Utah at the Spectrum
in 1998.
"[We had] a great crowd, that's home court
personified right there," Morrill said. "It's
a sixth, seventh, and maybe an eighth man. When
it's like that, which it is a lot, there's not
a better atmosphere in the country."
Things looked bleak for the Aggies in the early
going, however, as they allowed Nevada to build
a double-digit lead early on and maintain it for
most of the first half. Nevada used a 20-2 run,
capped off by a three-point bucket by Marcelus
Kemp, to take a 24-12 lead with 9:57 to go. The
Aggies, who had gone nearly nine minutes during
that span with just one field goal made, finally
regained their scoring touch but still trailed
42-32 going into halftime.
"Nevada's not ranked No. 9 for no reason;
they're a great team," forward Chaz Spicer
said. "They came out and played us tough."
Utah State stormed out of the gates to open
the second half, using a 10-2 run to cut the lead
to 44-42 just four minutes into the half.
"We were tough in the second half,"
Morrill said. "We kept answering the bell
when we were down."
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DOWN TO THE WIRE:
Chaz Spicer gets fouled attempting the last shot
of overtime. He missed the shot but made the two
free throws, providing USU with its margin of
victory. Below, Jaycee Carroll is mobbed by ecstatic
fans on the court after the Aggies upset No. 9
Nevada. / Photos by Patrick Oden
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That bell would ring a few more times during the seesaw
second half that saw a number of ties and lead changes.
After a three-point shot from Utah State's Kris Clark
tied the score at 53, Nevada was able to use a 9-3 run
to take a 62-56 lead with just over nine minutes left.
The Aggies then ripped off a 10-0 run of their own,
as a pair of Jaycee Carroll free throws gave Utah State
a 66-62 edge at the 4:13 mark.
The Wolfpack wouldn't go away, however, fighting back
to tie the game at 71-71 on a Kemp layup. A turnover
by Carroll gave Nevada a chance to win the game in regulation,
but Ramon Sessions' three-point attempt barely missed
as time expired.
Going into overtime, Morrill made sure his players
felt confident that they could win.
"I told them, 'They're in our house and it's overtime
and we're going to find a way to win,'" he said.
After Nevada jumped out to a 75-72 lead in the extra
session on a pair of Sessions putbacks, Aggie big-man
Stephen DuCharme, who came into the night shooting just
1-of-6 from behind the three-point line on the season,
knocked down his second trey of the game, tying the
score at 75.
"I've always been able to shoot threes, [but
there's] not a lot of chances [playing underneath] to
get out there and shoot some threes," DuCharme
said. "I guess I got a little lucky, maybe."
Fazekas temporarily gave the Wolfpack a 77-75 lead
on a driving lay-in across the lane at the 2:00 mark,
but the Aggies countered with a Jaycee Carroll fast
break lay-up on a beautiful pass from Durrall Peterson
with just 45 seconds remaining.
After Utah State got the ball back, Chaz Spicer was
fouled by Fazekas while attempting to shoot from the
top of the key with 3.8 seconds left. While Spicer felt
the foul was obvious, he wasn't sure if the referee
was going to make the call.
"He kind of waited about three seconds [before
blowing the whistle]," Spicer said. "But I'm
kind of glad he did; it took some more time off the
clock."
Spicer calmly stepped up to the line and knocked down
what proved to be the game-winning free throws.
"I'm confident in my game like that," he
said. "When I got fouled I already knew -- two
shots, we go up two and we've got to play defense the
last three seconds to get this game over with."
Marcellus Kemp launched a desperation shot from half
court as time expired that missed the rim entirely,
giving the Aggies the 79-77 victory. DuCharme knew just
how big this victory was for the team.
"This is a huge win," he said. "It
gives us some momentum for Saturday and (going) into
the WAC tournament, so we needed this win really bad."
DuCharme finished the game with 20 points and eight
rebounds, while Carroll added 18 points and Spicer 17.
Guard Durrall Peterson also had a solid night, finishing
with eight points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Kemp led the way for Nevada with 25 points, including
five three-pointers, while Fazekas posted a double-double
with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Next up for the Aggies is Fresno State, who visits
the Spectrum on Saturday. Although the Bulldogs topped
Utah State in Fresno earlier this year, Spicer feels
Saturday's game will be a different story.
"A lot of guys were getting adjusted to how WAC
play was [in that game]," he said. "We're
better than we were back then, so it's going to be a
better game."
Saturday's game tips off at 7 p.m.
NOTES: Utah State's Kris Clark nailed
a shot from nearly the opposite end of the floor at
the end of the first half. The referees said the shot
left Clark's hand after the buzzer had sounded, however.
. . . Nevada head coach Mark Fox was given a technical
foul late in the second half after intentionally bumping
an official. Fox was upset after Fazekas had been called
for an offensive foul. . . . Utah State now owns a 15-game
home winning streak. The Aggies' last loss at the Spectrum
was Feb. 25, 2006, in an overtime game against Nevada.
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