Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Utah State
Wildcat Snap Six-Game Losing Streak to Utah State
11/10/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
OGDEN, Utah -- The pupil finally got the best of the teacher. Weber State snapped a six-game losing streak to in-state rival Utah State beating the Aggies 78-71 on Saturday night before a crowd of 7,797 in the season opener for the ?Cats.
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe spent 13 seasons as an assistant coach with USU head coach Stew Morrill at Colorado State and Utah State. It was Rahe's first win over this mentor in three tries.
"I thought our kids played well, with a great of purpose and enthusiasm especially in the second half," said Rahe. "We had some youngsters grow up tonight. Steve Panos had just one double figure scoring game last season and he goes out and scores a career high (13) in a tough in-state game. Believe me, it's really hard to beat any team coached by Stew Morrill. I learned a great deal from Coach Morrill and respect him more than I can express, and hey, let me give our students a shout out, man that's the best student crowd we've had for a regular season game since I've been here. I hope they will continue to come make that kind of noise every game."
The key to the win was the defensive effort on USU All-America candidate Jaycee Carroll. In four previous games against the Wildcats, Carroll averaged 22.4 points and shot 62 percent from the field. Using four different players to hound and harass, they held him to just 3-11 shooting and 14 points.
"No question the key to our win was the defensive effort by our kids on Jaycee. He's a really, and I mean really, talented basketball player and to hold him to just 3-11 is almost unbelievable." said Rahe.
Utah State led at half time 37-33 by holding the Wildcats to 43 percent shooting from the field and by hitting 13-25 (.520) first half shots from the floor.
It looked like the Aggies were going to run away with the game when Carroll nailed a three-pointer with 10:44 remaining putting the Aggies up 54-47.
The Wildcats responded by going on a 20-12 scoring run over the next five minutes. USU's last lead came at 6:44 on another three by Carroll. But a bucket and two free throws by Dezmon Harris and a lay up by Steve Panos over the next 90 seconds lifted the ?Cats to a 66-6 lead. The dagger to the heart of the Aggies came on a big three-pointer from Juan Pablo Silveira a the 3:28 mark which gave the ?Cats a 69-62 lead..
Still, Utah State battled back to pull within two at 72-70 on two free throws by Desmond Stephens with 34 seconds left. USU immediately fouled Tyler Billings who made good on both free throws. USU unbounded the ball but it was stolen by Brody Van Brocklin. He was fouled and make one of two giving WSU a five-point cushion with 25 seconds left. Two more free throws by Dezmon Harris six seconds later sealed the deal. The Wildcats ended up shooting a sizzling 60 percent (12-2) from the field in the second half. WSU also had a huge free throw advantage hitting 25-39. USU was 17-23.
USU's Gary Wilkinson led all scorers with 21 points and added eight rebounds. Jaycee Carroll had 14 and Stephen DuCharme, 13.
Dezmon Harris led the Wildcats with 16 points. Arturas Valeika had a "double/double" with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Panos added his 13.
The victory won't be celebrated long. The Wildcats leave on Sunday for Los Angeles, California where they will play in the O'Reilly Auto Parts College Basketball Experience Tournament at UCLA. WSU meets Cal State San Bernardino on Monday (Nov. 12) at 5:05 PST in the first game. UCLA hosts Youngstown State in the second game. The two losers and two winner will play again on Tuesday.
