USU
hands Louisiana Tech first WAC loss
By G. Christopher Terry
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January 20, 2006 | No WAC opponent
to date had been able to solve Paul Millsap and
the Louisiana Tech defense, which had been holding
opponents to a league-low 62.6 points per game.
That was, until they made their program's first
trip to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, where they
were outfought by Utah State en route to a 64-55
loss -- their first Western Athletic Conference
loss of the season. The Aggies were held
to 40.4 percent shooting, a season low. They turned
it over 10 times. They gave up 17 rebounds --
nine off them off Tech's offensive glass -- and
20 points to NBA prospect Paul Millsap.
It should have spelled doom. |
The Quotable Stew Morrill
On Paul Millsap: "Millsap doesn't
get his points off post moves, he gets them stealing
here and rebound there and angles. Everything's
angles. We had to play so much zone just because
of him. I don't think we do a horrible job on
him and he gets 20 and 17! Seventeen rebounds,
nine offensive. If he can't play for money, these
guys in the NBA must be really good."
On Cass Matheus playing through food
poisoning, which resulted in dehydration necessitating
an IV drip: "They gave him enough I guess
of that stuff they give you to get you better
fast."
On defending Millsap: "Thank goodness
for our good old 12, which is our 2-3 matchup
zone. Because if we had had to stay in straight
man-to-man defense against Millsap, he might have
had 40 [points] and 30 rebounds." |
USU Head Coach Stew Morrill said, "It wasn't pretty,
it was just a flat-out battle. Great win for us. I couldn't
be prouder of how hard we played."
Jaycee Carroll atoned for an uncharacteristic poor
shooting night by leading the team in steals with four,
a season high for him. Seven different Aggies were credited
for steals, and Morrill said he "didn't remember getting
that many deflections in a game this year."
Bodies thudded the Spectrum floor on nearly every
possession down the stretch of the second half as an
unrelentingly physical Bulldogs squad raised the intensity
on the boards and on defense.
Dave Pak, who hit four huge free throws in the waning
minutes, said, "It was a physical game. Coach stressed
rebounding and especially boxing out Millsap. We tried
to do what we could and even though they outrebounded
us we're still satisfied with out effort."
The first half started sloppily for the Aggies as
they turned it over three times. A Nate Harris free
throw was their solitary point for the first two minutes.
Notwithstanding these early trials, the Aggies had
the Bulldogs comfortably in hand as time was winding
down in the first half, 33-19. Then two made free throws
by Daevon Haskins and a Marcus Elliot three-pointer
cut the Aggie lead to nine. With the last seconds counting
down, Elliot struck again, this time from beyond halfcourt,
and the Aggies were only up by six at the break.
La Tech went right back to chipping away on the Aggie
lead in the second half. A Millsap layup brought the
visitors within one, the another one gave the Bulldogs
a 36-35 lead, their first since 11:26 of the first half.
The Aggies came out of the ensuing timeout and entered
a stretch where rebounds seemed as valuable as points
against Millsap. Harris had an assist so pretty it deserved
to go on the cover of next year's media guide. resulting
in a Cass Matheus dunk. Chris Huber hit two consecutive
threes as well during this stretch, which saw four lead
changes and two ties inside an eight-minute span.
Morrill said, "Chris Huber hit two when we absolutely
had to have them. It's nice for a senior to do that."
But it wasn't Huber or Harris' offensive prowess (he
was 5-of-6 shooting for 13 points) that got it done
for the Aggies. It was raising their defensive game
to match Tech's.
After two Chaz Spicer free throws put the Aggies ahead
for good with 8:05 remaining, the Bulldogs got desperate.
The sounds of Aggie bodies slamming into the floor,
often in a tangle with two or three Bulldogs, was clearly
audible on the press row. Durrall Peterson was driven
into the hardwood on both ends of the court, once in
a collision with the 245-pound Millsap that resulted
in a fourth foul being called on the Bulldogs' star.
"Obviously Jaycee and myself were off and when
we do that we've got to pick it up defensively and just
be able to knock down the easy shots that we can at
the free throw line and the layups," Pak said of
the Aggies' clutch free throw performance once Louisiana
Tech was in the double bonus.
Morrill said, "Millsap is definitely worth the price
of admission. I'd rather pay to come watch him than
have to coach."
Coming up next for the Aggies is a road trip to Reno,
Nev., to face a Wolfpack team picked to win the league
by the media before the season began. Morrill said he
has heard the Pack is "like a Majerus-coached team
defensively, which is saying something."
The game will be televised on ESPN and is a chance
for the Aggies to make a statement to the rest of the
WAC in front of a national audience.
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