Dec. 10, 2002
LOGAN, Utah -
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Game #7Utah State (5-1) at Brigham Young (5-1)Marriott Center (22,700) * Provo, UtahDec. 14, 2002 * 7:07 p.m. (MST) * SportsWest TV * Aggie Radio Network
Utah State Aggies (5-1)Probable Starters Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG NotesF # 2 Desmond Penigar 6-7 245 Sr. 15.2 5.3 11 career 20-point gamesF # 5 Toraino Johnson 6-4 215 Sr. 5.5 2.8 20 straight starts for USUC # 11 Mike Puzey 6-9 240 Sr. 4.5 5.0 Career-high 11 rebounds at ISUG # 1 Ronnie Ross 6-1 190 Sr. 4.8 2.3^ 10 career 10-point gamesG # 20 Mark Brown 5-10 150 Jr. 13.8 4.3^ Career-high 19 points at ISU
Up Next
Utah State will play its fifth straight game away from home this weekend as the Aggies travel to Provo, Utah to face BYU on Sat., Dec. 14 at 7:07 p.m. (MST). The game will be televised throughout the state of Utah on SportsWest Productions.
About Brigham Young
Brigham Young is 5-1 on the season following its 64-74 road loss at Creighton over the weekend. The Cougars host San Diego on Wed., Dec. 11 before facing the Aggies Saturday night. BYU began the season by defeating Toledo (71-56), Kansas State (73-64) and St. Bonaventure (66-57) in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the Virgin Islands. The Cougars then defeated Rice at home (95-56) before winning at Arizona State (64-60). BYU owns the nations longest home winning streak at 37 games and is 1-0 at home this season. The Cougars are led by senior Travis Hansen who is averaging 16.0 points per game. Junior Mark Bigelow is averaging 14.5 points per game, and sophomore Jared Jensen is scoring 11.0 points per contest. Junior Rafael Araujo leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game. BYU returns three starters and eight lettermen from last year's team that went 18-12 on the season and finished in a tie for fourth-place in the Mountain West Conference with a 7-7 league record. BYU advanced to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated UC Irvine at home before losing to Memphis on the road. Steve Cleveland is in his sixth year at BYU and has an overall record of 90-70.
Next Week
Utah State will return home for a pair of in-state games as the Aggies host Utah on Tues., Dec. 17 and Weber State on Sat., Dec. 21 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Both games are going to be televised on KJZZ-TV and will begin at 7:07 p.m. (MST).
Utah State-Brigham Young Series
Utah State and BYU will be meeting for the 219th time in school history this weekend, extending the oldest rivalry in USU history. The first game played between the two schools was back on Feb. 23, 1906 with the Aggies losing 14-21. USU trails in the all-time series 86-132 and is just 30-77 on the road against the Cougars. In fact, Utah State has lost 13 straight games at BYU, with its last win in Provo coming on Dec. 10, 1985 by a final score of 88-76. The last time the two teams met was on Dec. 1, 2001, with the Aggies recording a 90-81 overtime win in Logan. BYU has won 20 of the last 23 meetings between the two schools dating back to the 1985-86 season. Prior to the 1985-86 season, Utah State won nine straight games.
Aggies Versus The Mountain West Conference
Utah State is 280-368 (.432) all-time against current members of the Mountain West Conference. All-time, USU is 86-132 versus BYU, 22-43 versus Wyoming, 10-2 versus Air Force, 49-34 versus Colorado State, 19-4 versus New Mexico, 3-27 versus UNLV, 3-0 versus San Diego State, and 88-126 versus Utah.
Morrill Versus The Mountain West Conference
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill is 54-47 (.535) all-time against current members of the Mountain West Conference. Morrill is 8-10 all-time against Utah, 8-10 versus BYU, 6-10 versus Wyoming, 14-2 versus Air Force, 1-2 versus Colorado State, 3-9 versus New Mexico, 11-2 versus San Diego State, and 3-2 versus UNLV. As head coach at Utah State, Morrill is 6-5 versus the Mountain West Conference.
Aggies Away From Home
Utah State has been extremely successful away from home over the last four years under head coach Stew Morrill. In all games away from home (which includes road and neutral games), Utah State is 39-18 (.684) over the past four years. Overall, USU is 41-29 (.586) under Morrill away from home.
Aggies On The Road
Over the past four years, Utah State has gone 25-13 (.656) on the road and is 27-22 (.551) on the road all-time under coach Morrill. In non-conference games, USU is 7-8 on the road under Morrill.
Morrill Going For 100th Win At Utah State
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill will be looking for his 100th win at Utah State this weekend as his Aggies travel to Brigham Young. In his fifth year at USU, Morrill is 99-34 (.744) as the Aggies head coach. In 17 years as a collegiate head coach, Morrill has an overall record of 317-172 (.648). When he does record his 100th win, Morrill will become the sixth coach in USU history to notch 100 wins. The following is a look at the five other Aggie coaches to win 100 games and how long it took each of them to accomplish the feat.
# of Games ToCoach USU Record Pct. Yrs. Get 100 WinsLadell Anderson 173-96 .643 10 151Dutch Belnap 106-58 .646 6 153E. Lowell Romney225-157 .589 22 154Rod Tueller 139-120 .537 9 190H. Cecil Baker 158-141 .528 11 199Stew Morrill 99-33 .750 5 ???
Aggies 5-1 Again
Utah State is off to another 5-1 start under head coach Stew Morrill. In his five years at USU, Morrill has led three different teams to 5-1 starts (1999, 2001, 2002).
Aggies In December
Utah State is 19-5 in the month of December over the last four years under head coach Stew Morrill, and 21-8 in Morrill's five years at USU.
Frequent Flyers
Utah State has given new meaning to the words "Frequent Flyers" during the 2002-03 season. USU began the season by going to Illinois State (2,510 miles) before traveling to Hawai'i (6,321 miles), followed by its trip to Mississippi (3,872 miles) last weekend. Overall, USU has logged 12,703 miles in the air during the first three weeks of the season. USU has also spent quite a few hours on the road this season, traveling approximately 800 miles by bus.
Keep It Under 60
When Utah State holds its opponents below 60 points, good things happen. Under Morrill, USU is 41-3 when holding its opponents under 60 points, including a 3-0 record this year.
On This Date
Utah State is 5-6 in known games played on Dec. 14 dating back to the 1963-64 season, including an 0-3 record on the road. USU is 1-1 all-time against BYU on Dec. 14, defeating the Cougars at home 80-68 back in the 1982-83 season, and losing at BYU 78-65 during the 1993-94 season.
Over At The Half
Utah State is now 70-4 over the last four years when leading at the half following its five wins this season in which USU has led at the half in every game.
One And Done
Over the last three seasons, Utah State has bounced back well from a loss as the Aggies have had only three back-to-back losses dating back to the 1999-2000 season. Under head coach Stew Morrill, USU is 19-9 in games following a loss.
Brown Named Big West Player of the Week
Junior point guard Mark Brown was named the Big West Conference player of the week on Dec. 2 after leading Utah State to a home win over Whitman College as well as the championship of the 2002 Hilo Shootout in Hilo, Hawai'i with wins over Vermont, Drake and Hawai'i-Hilo. Brown, who was named MVP of the tournament, averaged 13.5 points, 5.8 assists, and 1.8 rebounds per game last week as he shot 51.5 percent from the field, 93.8 percent from the free-throw line, and was a perfect 5-of-5 from three point range.
Penigar Named To All-Tournament Team
Senior forward Desmond Penigar was named to the 2002 Hilo Shootout all-tournament team after averaging 13.3 points per game. Other players named to the all-tournament team included Taylor Coppenrath (Vermont), J.J. Sola (Drake), Greg Danielson (Drake), Ryan Abrahams (Hawai'i-Hilo), and Mark Brown of Utah State who was the MVP.
Among the Best In The Country
Utah State basketball has been among the best in the country since the 1999-2000 season as USU has posted an amazing 84-21 (.800) record. USU went 28-6 during the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, and 23-8 during the 2001-02 season. That 80.0 winning percentage ranks as the fifth-best in the country over the past four years, while the 84 wins are the seventh-most. The following is a look at the top-10 teams in the country based on winning percentage.
Winningest Teams During the 2000s Team Won Lost Pct.1. Duke 100 13 .8852. Stanford 82 18 .8203. Cincinnati 88 20 .8153. Oklahoma 88 20 .8155. UTAH STATE 84 21 .8006. Gonzaga 86 22 .7967. Tulsa 89 23 .7958. Kansas 86 24 .7829. Butler 78 22 .78010. Michigan State 83 26 .761
Recapping The Jackson State Game
Utah State shot just 37.0 percent from the field and committed a season-high 19 turnovers in its first loss of the season at Jackson State Saturday night by a final score of 57-63. Cardell Butler led USU with 12 points, while Toraino Johnson and Mark Brown added 10 each. Johnson led all players with eight rebounds in the game. Utah State turned the ball over in each of its first three possessions to start the game and never got into an offensive flow in the contest. With Jackson State up one early in the contest, USU went on an 8-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 17-12. However, the Tigers responded with eight unanswered points to take control and went into the half up four at 31-27. Jackson State extended its lead to 10 at 45-35 with 13:58 remaining and USU could get no closer than four for the remainder of the game as the Aggies missed five free throws in the final two minutes. Ishmael Joyce led four Jackson State players who scored in double figures with 17 points as the Tigers shot 41.3 percent from the field and 81.8 percent from the free throw line. USU had its worse game of the season from the charity stripe, shooting just 59.1 percent on 13-of-22 shooting. Utah State did out-rebound the Tigers 49-25, but the Aggies committed seven more turnovers in the contest and had just eight assists.
Aggies Ink Two So Far
Utah State head basketball coach Stew Morrill has announced the signing of Chris Huber and Jason Williams to national letters of intent to compete for the Aggies beginning in the 2003-04 season. Huber, a 6-1 freshman guard at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, led Bear River High School in nearby Garland, Utah to the Class 3A championship game during his senior season back in 1999. He was a three-time first-team all-state selection at Bear River and averaged nearly 17 points per game as a senior. Huber, who transferred to Dixie State College after redshirting last season at the University of Utah, picked Utah State over Boise State, Portland State and South Alabama. Williams, a 6-7, 210-pound sophomore forward at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, Calif., averaged 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as a freshman, shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from three point range. His best game of the season was in the first-round of the state playoffs as he scored 29 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. He earned first-team all-league honors during his freshman season, as he led his club to a 23-8 record. Williams, who is rated as the best junior college small forward in California by Networx Basketball Scouting Services, was recruited by Utah State, Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, Fresno State and St. Mary's.
Aggie Note-Ables
* Utah State's bench has outscored the opponent's bench in all six games this season. USU is getting 29.0 points per game from its bench, while its opponent's are scoring only 13.5 points per game off the bench. Overall, the Aggie bench has scored 174 points, while its opponents have gotten just 81 points from its bench.
* Mark Brown has scored in double-figures in all six games he has played at Utah State.
* Desmond Penigar has now scored in double-figures in 33 of his 37 games at Utah State. He also has 11 20-point games in his career. With his eight points against Hawai'i-Hilo, Penigar's streak of double-figure scoring games stopped at 25. For the first time in his career, Penigar scored in single digits in back-to-back games with his eight points at Hilo and nine at Jackson State.
* Utah State had four players make their first-ever start at Utah State in Mike Puzey, Spencer Nelson, Mark Brown and Greg Patton in the Aggies season opener at Illinois State.
* Utah State is now 26-2 over the last two years when shooting better from the field than its opponents.
* Utah State has now won 27 straight games when shooting better from three-point range than its opponents. Over the last four years, USU is 62-3 when they shoot better from three point range than its opponents.
* Over the past four years, Utah State is 57-4 when committing fewer fouls than its opponents.
* Utah State's 34-point win against Whitman College was its biggest since beating Western State by 56 (99-43) on Dec. 15, 2001.
* Utah State is now 5-1 to start a season for the third time in five seasons under head coach Stew Morrill.
* Utah State is 37-10 in games played on Saturday's over the last four years, including a 2-1 record this season.
* Utah State is playing six of its first seven games away from home to start the season for the first time since the 1986-87 season. That team went 3-4 in its first seven games. Since the 1957-58 season, the only other Aggie team to play six of its first season games away from home was the 1981-82 team. That squad began the year with a 0-7 record.
* Utah State will be playing BYU, Utah and Weber State in back-to-back-to-back games for the first time since the 1995-96 season when the Aggies played all three in-state schools in a 12-day span. The 1988-89 team played six straight games against in-state schools back when Utah State played a home and home series with BYU, Utah and Weber during the same season.
Last Meeting With BYU
Desmond Penigar scored a career-high 34 points and Tony Brown recorded his first career double-double with 20 points and 10 assists as Utah State ended its three-game losing streak to BYU with a 90-81 overtime win at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Dec. 1, 2001. Trailing 80-79 with just over three minutes remaining in overtime, USU closed the game with a 11-1 run behind eight points from Brown. After trailing 37-34 at the half and 43-36 one minute into the second-half, Utah State went on a 9-0 run to take a one-point lead. However, BYU reclaimed the lead and built its advantage back to six point with 10 minutes remaining in regulation. USU made another run at the Cougars and outscored BYU 14-2 over the next six minutes to take its largest lead of the game at 69-63. The Cougars once again answered with a 8-2 run over the final three minutes to send the game into overtime. Penigar keep the Aggies close in the first-half with 16 points. USU won the game at the free-throw line by converting 28-of-30 free-throws, highlighted by Penigar's 10-of-10 performance and Brown making 8-of-8. Utah State shot 50.9 percent in the game and 46.2 percent from the three point line to go along with its 93.3 percent shooting from the charity stripe. BYU also shot the ball well, making 48.3 percent of its field goals and 45 percent of its three pointers. USU out-rebounded the Cougars 35-24, and USU committed a season-low seven turnovers in the game. Junior Travis Hansen paced BYU with a season-high 26 points, while Mark Bigelow added 21 points. The game marked the first time last year that USU had four players score in double-figures as guard Ronnie Ross scored 11 points and forward Chad Evans added 10.
Head Coach Stew Morrill
Stew Morrill (Gonzaga, 1974) is entering his fifth season at the helm of the Utah State men's basketball program after posting three straight 20-win seasons and guiding the Aggies to three straight postseason appearances. In his four-plus years at USU, he has an incredible 99-34 record, which is the best record by any coach at Utah State during that time span. Over the past three years, Morrill has coached five first-team all-league players in Shawn Daniels (twice), Troy Rolle, Bernard Rock, Tony Brown and Desmond Penigar. In his four years at USU, he has had over an 80 percent graduation rate. He has been involved in postseason action six times in his career, including the NCAA Tournament at Utah State in 2000 and 2001, and the National Invitation Tournament in 2002. He has been named Coach of the Year three times, winning the award in 1991 at Montana, and in 2000 and 2002 at Utah State. He is only the third coach in the history of the Big West Conference to go undefeated in the league, as he led the 1999-2000 squad to a perfect 19-0 league record, joining Lou Henson and Jerry Tarkanian. Prior to coming to Utah State, Morrill had been the head coach at Colorado State University for seven seasons, recording a 121-86 record (1992-98). Prior to his stint at CSU, Morrill spent five seasons as the head coach at the University of Montana (1987-91), where he went 97-52. During his 16 years as a head coach, Morrill's teams have won at least 20 games seven times and have won at least 17 games in 13 of his 16 seasons as a head coach. He was the second winningest coach at Colorado State behind only Boyd Grant.
Morrill Year-by-Year Coaching RecordYear School Overall Pct. Conf. Place1987 Montana 18-11 .621 8-6 3rd1988 Montana 18-11 .621 7-9 t6th1989 Montana 20-11 .645 11-5 3rd1990 Montana 18-11 .621 10-6 3rd1991 Montana 23-8 .742 13-3 1st1992 Colorado State 14-17 .451 8-8 6th1993 Colorado State 17-12 .586 9-9 5th1994 Colorado State 15-13 .536 8-10 5th1995 Colorado State 17-14 .548 7-11 t7th1996 Colorado State 18-12 .600 11-7 4th1997 Colorado State 20-9 .689 10-6 4th1998 Colorado State 20-9 .689 8-6 4th1999 Utah State 15-13 .536 8-8 4th2000 Utah State 28-6 .824 16-0 1st2001 Utah State 28-6 .824 13-3 2nd2002 Utah State 23-8 .742 13-5 1st2003 Utah State 5-1 .833 0-0 -----Totals 17th Year 317-172 .648 160-102 .611
Years School Overall Pct. Conf. Pct.87-91 Montana 97-52 .651 49-29 .62892-98 Colorado State 121-86 .585 61-57 .51799- Utah State 99-34 .744 50-16 .758Totals 17th Year 317-172 .648 160-102 .611
