March 10, 2006

RENO, Nev. -

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GAME 30UTAH STATE (22-7) vs. LOUISIANA TECH (20-11)Fri., Mar. 10 * 7:05 p.m. (MT) * Lawlor Events Center (11,784)Aggie Radio Network * ESPN Full Court

UP NEXT
Utah State (22-7) will face third-seeded Louisiana Tech (20-11) in the semifinals of the 2006 Western Athletic Conference postseason tournament on Fri., Mar. 10 at 7 p.m. (MT) in the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev. USU is now 14-2 over the last seven years in conference tournament play.

LOOKING AT UTAH STATE
Utah State improved to 22-7 on the year with its 76-69 win against seventh-seeded San Jose State in the first round of the 2006 Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday. Utah State, who is now 8-5 away from home this year, has won three straight games and six of its last seven overall. The Aggies are led by senior forward Nate Harris who is averaging 17.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, while shooting 62.2 percent from the field and 72.9 percent from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Jaycee Carroll is averaging 16.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.6 percent from the field, 46.9 percent from three-point range and 80.0 percent from the free throw line. And, senior center Cass Matheus is averaging 9.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.37 blocks per game, while shooting 59.9 percent from the field and 69.5 percent from free throw line. As a team, Utah State is averaging 72.9 points and shooting 50.2 percent from the field, 41.4 percent from three-point range, and 72.1 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, Utah State is allowing 64.2 points, while its opponents are shooting 41.6 percent from the field, 35.2 percent from three-point range, and 66.2 percent from the free throw line.

UTAH STATE IN TOURNAMENT PLAY
With its 76-69 win against San Jose State Thursday, Utah State has now won four straight conference tournament games and improved to 27-21 all-time in tournament play. Utah State will be playing in the semifinals of a conference tournament for the seventh straight year and is 5-1 in its previous six semifinal games. Overall, Utah State is 9-4 in semifinal games.

UTAH STATE AS A NUMBER TWO SEED
Utah State is now 12-3 all-time as a number two seed in conference tournaments and has won each of its last six games as a second seed. Utah State is also 4-1 all-time in semifinal games as the second seed and has won three tournament championships as the number two seed, while playing in four championship games.

UTAH STATE IN THE LAWLOR EVENTS CENTER
Utah State has won each of its last six games in the Lawlor Events Center and is now 14-8 all-time in the building. In postseason tournaments, USU has now won four straight games in the Lawlor Events Center and is 10-3 all-time in the building in tournament play.

UTAH STATE ON NEUTRAL COURTS
Utah State is now 1-0 on the year and 22-9 over the last seven years, when playing on a neutral court.

AGGIES RECORD 22ND WIN OF THE YEAR
Utah State has now won at least 22 games in each of its last seven years, and is one of just five teams in the country to accomplish that feat, joining Duke, Gonzaga, Illinois and Kansas. Those 22 wins are also tied for the ninth-most ever in school history.

UTAH STATE WILL PLAY ITS 30TH GAME OF THE YEAR
Utah State will play its 30th game of the year for the sixth time in the last seven years and for the 13th time in school history versus Louisiana Tech Friday.

COMPUTER RANKINGS
As of Mar. 10, Utah State has an RPI of 55, a strength of schedule of 127, and a sagrain rating of 67.

UTAH STATE VERSUS THE WAC IN POSTSEASON PLAY
Utah State is now 9-6 against current members of the Western Athletic Conference in postseason play. USU's semifinal game against Louisiana Tech will be its first-ever meeting against the Bulldogs in postseason play.

AT THE HALF
Utah State is 21-3 on the year and 148-17 over the last seven years when leading at the half. Conversely, USU is 1-3 this season and just 21-29 over the last seven years when trailing at the half.

AGGIES SCORE 70 AGAIN
Utah State is 12-3 on the year and 103-10 over the last seven years when scoring 70-plus points in a game.

UTAH STATE SHOOTS OVER 50 PERCENT AGAIN
Utah State shot 55.1 percent from the field against San Jose State Thursday, and has now shot over 50 percent from the field in seven of its last 10 games and in 16 games this year.

UTAH STATE THIRD IN THE NATION IN SHOOTING
As of Mar. 6, Utah State ranked third in the nation in both field goal percentage (50.1) and three-point field goal percentage (41.9). As of Mar. 10, Utah State is now shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range. As of Mar. 6, Utah State also ranked sixth nationally in assists per game (18.0), 18th in fewest personal fouls committed per game (15.4), and 30th in scoring margin (+8.8).

UTAH STATE-LOUISIANA TECH SERIES
Utah State is 2-0 all-time against Louisiana Tech as it defeated the Bulldogs 64-55 in Logan on Jan. 18, and 63-62 in Ruston on Feb. 4. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams in postseason play.

SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH
Louisiana Tech is 20-11 on the year after defeating sixth-seeded Boise State75-64 in the first round of the 2006 WAC Tournament. The Bulldogs, who are 10-9 away from home this year, have won three straight games and five of its last six overall. Louisiana Tech is led by junior forward Paul Millsap who is averaging 19.7 points and 13.6 rebounds per game. As a team, Louisiana Tech scores 66.6 points per game and shoots 42.0 percent from the field, 28.5 percent from three-point range, and 63.3 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, the Bulldogs allow 62.8 points per game, while its opponents are shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three-point range.

LAST MEETING AGAINST THE BULLDOGS
Durrall Peterson scored the final five points for Utah State, including two free throws with :11.7 seconds remaining to lift the Aggies to a dramatic 63-62 win at Louisiana Tech in Western Athletic Conference action at the Thomas Assembly Center on Feb. 4, 2006. Utah State led by as many as 15 points in the first half and went into the locker room up 13 at 38-25 as it shot a blistering 77.8 percent from the field (14-18) and 75.0 percent from three-point range (6-8). Jaycee Carroll led all players with 14 points at the break as he was 4-5 from three-point range in the opening period. Louisiana Tech scored the first four points of the second half and got the lead down to six at 42-36 before Utah State got back-to-back three-pointers from Carroll and Peterson to extend its lead back to 10 at 48-38 with 14:17 remaining. Louisiana Tech then went on a 16-5 run over the 7:56 to take its first lead since early in the game at 54-53 on a dunk by Paul Millsap. The lead was short lived, however, as Chaz Spicer converted a three-point play for Utah State two possessions later and the visitors never trailed again. Utah State followed Spicer's three-point play with two free throws from Nate Harris, to push its lead back to four. Millsap got LTU back to within one at 61-60 with 1:13 remaining, but Peterson's two free throws gave the Aggies a three-point lead. Jerome Richardson scored the final points of the game for the Bulldogs with :03 seconds remaining on a lay-up, but LTU could not stop the clock as USU rain the remaining time off without getting fouled. Carroll led Utah State with 19 points, while Harris added eight points, seven assists and three rebounds. Peterson finished the game with eight points for USU, while David Pak had nine points. Millsap led all scorers with 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds, while Richardson had 11 points for the home team. Utah State finished the game by shooting 56.4 percent from the field and 56.3 percent from three-point range. Louisiana Tech shot 53.1 percent from the field in the second half, and 45.2 percent for the game, but made just 1-14 three-point attempts in the contest. USU also shot well from the free throw line (10-13), while the Bulldogs attempted just nine charity tosses, making five. LTU did out-rebound USU 36-21, including an 18-2 advantage on the offensive end.

HARRIS NOW HAS THE MOST CAREER WINS IN UTAH STATE HISTORY
Senior forward Nate Harris now has 95 wins in his Utah State career and moved ahead of Tony Brown, who had 94 career wins, and into first all-time at USU in career wins by a single player.

HARRIS 12TH ALL-TIME AT UTAH STATE IN SCORING
With his 19 points against San Jose State Thursday, senior forward Nate Harris now has 1,421 career points to rank 12th all-time in school history. Harris is now 32 points shy of tying Kevin Nixon (1985-88) for 11th-place all-time with 1,453 career points.

HARRIS RECORDS SEVENTH DOUBLE-DOUBLE OF THE YEAR
Senior forward Nate Harris recorded his seventh double-double of the season and 12th of his career with 19 points and 11 rebounds against San Jose State Thursday. It was also the eighth time this year and 13th time in his career that he has recorded double-digits in rebounds.

HARRIS NOW SEVENTH ALL-TIME IN DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORING GAMES
Senior forward Nate Harris has now scored in double-figures 27 times this year and 75 times in his career after scoring 19 points against San Jose State Thursday. Harris is now tied with Tony Brown (1999-2002) for seventh all-time in school history with those 75 career double-figure scoring games and is just one game shy of tying Dean Hunger (1977-80) for sixth-place all-time.

HARRIS SEVENTH ALL-TIME IN MINUTES PLAYED
Senior forward Nate Harris has now played in 3,310 minutes in his career at Utah State to rank seventh all-time in school history. Harris is now 37 minutes shy of tying Kevin Nixon (1985-88) for sixth all-time with 3,347 career minutes.

HARRIS SECOND ALL-TIME IN GAMES PLAYED
Senior forward Nate Harris has played in 123 games in his career at Utah State to rank second all-time. He is now four games shy of tying Tony Brown (1999-2002) for first-place all-time with 127 career games played.

HARRIS SHOOTING WELL FORM THE FREE THROW LINE
Senior forward Nate Harris has been almost automatic from the free throw line as he has made nine straight free throws over his last two games and is 16-17 (.941) from the charity stripe over his last three games. Overall, Harris is shooting 79.7 percent from the free throw line (55-69) over his last 15 games.

SPICER PLAYING WELL IN HIS LAST FIVE GAMES
Junior forward Chaz Spicer has played his best basketball of the season in his last five games as he has scored in double-figures in three of those contests, including each of the last two. Over his last five games, Spicer is averaging 11.8 points and 3.2 rebounds, while shooting 62.2 percent from the field and 86.7 percent from three-point range. During his last two games, Spicer scored 14 first-half points against San Jose State in Logan on Mar. 4 and added 12 first-half points against the Spartans in the first-half on Mar. 9 in the WAC Tournament.

UTAH STATE'S STATS DURING ITS THREE-GAME WINNING STREAK
During its current three-game winning streak, Utah State is averaging 74.7 points and shooting 51.0 percent from the field, 31.4 percent from three-point range, and 87.1 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, USU is allowing 68.0 points during its last three games, while its opponents are shooting 43.1 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from three-point range, and 65.7 percent from the free throw line.

RECAPPING THE SAN JOSE STATE GAME
Nate Harris scored 19 points, including 11 in the second half, and added 11 rebounds to lead Utah State to a 76-69 victory against San Jose State in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament here Thursday. With the win Utah State advanced to Friday's semifinal round and will meet Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. mountain time. The Bulldogs defeated Boise State 75-64 in their first round match-up Thursday. The Aggies, who are now 22-7 on the year, had four players score in double figures paced by Harris, who hit seven of 10 shots from the field and was a perfect five-of-five from the free throw line. The senior post player, who was named first-team all-conference earlier this week, recorded his seventh double-double of the year and reached the 10-point mark for the 27th time in 29 games this season. Chaz Spicer came off the bench to throw in 15 points, one shy of his career high, as he hit five-of-six attempts in 21 minutes of play. Aggie guards David Pak and Jaycee Carroll added 12 and 11 points respectively. Carroll chipped in six assists and three steals. San Jose State was led by Demetrius Brown, who tied his career high with 26 points. Brown also added eight rebounds. USU won its conference tournament opening game for the sixth time in the last seven years and will play in a conference semifinal for the seventh straight year. USU led by as many as 14 points in the first half and as many as 13 in the second half after five straight points by Pak made the score 50-37 with 16:29 remaining in the game. However, the Spartans went on a 21-9 run to cut the margin to 62-61 as Brown scored on a lay-up at the 7:21 mark. The teams stayed within three points of each other until Harris scored on a lay-up to put the Aggies up 72-67 with 1:21 left. Carroll hit a short jumper and Pak added two free throws to seal the win. USU shot 55.1 percent from the field, while holding the Spartans to 43.8 percent shooting. After committing 11 turnovers in the first half, the Aggies turned it over just six times in the second half, yet finished with 17 miscues. In addition to shooting well from the field, USU hit 18-of-20 free throws, including eight-of-nine in the second half. The Aggies did struggle from three-point range, making just four of 16 trey attempts. The game featured a number of runs as USU went on a 14-0 run in the first half to go ahead 29-14. In the second half SJSU had a 10-0 run before the Aggies responded with a 6-0 run to lead 61-53. USU will meet Louisiana Tech for the third time this year. USU swept the regular season series winning 64-55 at Logan on Jan. 18 and 63-62 at Ruston on Feb. 4.

UTAH STATE SHOOTING WELL FROM THE FREE THROW LINE
Over its last four games, Utah State is shooting 85.9 percent from the free throw line (61-71). During that stretch, USU has made more free throws than its opponents have attempted (32-50).

AGGIES STRUGGLING FROM THREE-POINT RANGE
Utah State has struggled from three-point range as it is just 8-34 (.235) from behind the arc in its last two games and just 22-73 (.301) from three-point range in its last four games.

UTAH STATE PLAYER NOTES
#2 David Pak - Has scored in double-figures in two of his last three games... Is 10-of-11 from the free throw line in his last three games... Played 33 minutes against San Jose State in the first round of the WAC Tournament, which was the most minutes he has played in the last 13 games... Also played 33 minutes against Louisiana Tech in Logan on Jan. 18, which is the second most minutes he has played in a game this year behind his career-high 44 at Fresno State on Jan. 7... Is averaging 7.6 points, 3.6 assists and 1.8 rebounds during his last five games, while shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from three-point range... Ranks third in the WAC in assists (4.79) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.96).

#3 Cass Matheus - Has scored a total of just 11 points in his last two games after scoring in double-figures in each of his previous three games... Is averaging 8.6 points and 5.4 rebounds over his last five games, while shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 84.6 percent from the free throw line... Ranks fourth in the WAC in blocked shots (1.38), and seventh in the league in rebounding (6.3).

#4 Nate Harris - Has recorded double-figures in rebounding in four of his last six games, and is averaging 9.5 rebounds per game during that stretch... Has scored 19 points in each of his last two games... Is shooting 69.0 percent from the field (20-29) in his last three games... Is shooting 87.5 percent from the free throw line (21-24) in his last five games and 94.1 percent (16-17) in his last three games... Has recorded at least one block in eight of his last 10 games... Over his last five games, he is averaging 16.2 points and 9.0 rebounds, while shooting 58.8 percent from the field and 87.5 percent from the free throw line... Ranks first in the WAC in field goal percentage (.622), sixth in rebounding (7.5), sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.59), eighth in scoring (17.2), eighth in assists (3.24), and ninth in free throw percentage (.729).

#20 Jaycee Carroll - Had six assists versus San Jose State Thursday, which was tied for the second-most in a game this year... Is just 6-of-22 (.273) from three-point range in his last four games... Averaging 13.6 points and 4.0 rebounds during his last five games, while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three-point range... Has made just two of his last five free throws.

#21 Chris Session - Had six points off the bench against San Jose State Thursday, which was the second-most points he has scored in his last 13 games... Over his last five games, he is averaging 1.6 points and 2.8 rebounds, while shooting 33.3 percent from the field and is 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

#24 Durrall Peterson - Is averaging 6.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his last five games, while shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range.

#25 Nick Hammer - Has scored just one point in his last 10 games (vs. Northwestern State) and has just three rebounds during that stretch.

#30 Chaz Spicer - Has scored in double-figures in each of his last two games (29 total points) and it is the first time this year he has scored in double-figures in back-to-back games... Is shooting 60.0 percent from the field (14-20) in his last three games and 84.6 percent from the free throw line (22-26) in his last 11 games... Over his last five games, he is averaging 11.8 points and 3.2 rebounds, while shooting 62.2 percent from the field and 86.7 percent from the free throw line.

#44 Nate Bendall - Has played in just two of Utah State's last 11 games, but has scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds in those two contests.