March 7, 2008
Final Stats
BOISE, Idaho - Senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll scored 23 points, including 19 in the second-half to lead Utah State to a convincing 88-69 win against league-leading Boise State here at Taco Bell Arena Thursday night.
Utah State, who has now won four straight games, improves to 22-9 on the season and 11-4 in the Western Athletic Conference. Boise State concludes its regular season with a 22-8 record and a 12-4 conference mark.
Senior forward Stephen DuCharme added 20 points and seven rebounds, while junior forward Gary Wilkinson finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Freshman forward Tai Wesley also scored in double-figures for Utah State as he had 11 points in just 16 minutes before fouling out. Carroll also added nine rebounds and two assists in 40 minutes of action.
Reggie Larry scored 23 points to go along with nine rebounds and four blocks to lead Boise State, while Matt Nelson added 20 points.
Anthony Thomas scored the first points of the game on a deep three-pointer from the top of the key, but the lead was short-lived for the home team as Utah State scored five straight points on a layup by Wilkinson and a three-pointer by freshman guard Tyler Newbold. Each team then traded buckets before USU went on a 7-1 run and led for the remainder of the game.
Utah State's margin grew to 12 on a free throw by Wesley with 8:05 to play to give Utah State a 30-18 advantage. Boise State scored seven straight points to get within five only to see USU finish the half with a 14-5 run to take a 44-30 lead into the break.
In the first-half, Utah State shot 50.0 percent from the field (18-36) and held Boise State to just 38.5 percent shooting (10-26). USU also out-rebounded BSU, 26-11, in the first-half as the visitors had 11 offensive boards. DuCharme had 12 points to lead Utah State in the opening period, while Larry and Nelson each scored eight points.
Utah State continued to control the game throughout the second half as Boise State could get no closer than nine points and USU finished the game with a 15-5 run over the final 3:50 to win going away.
Utah State finished the game by shooting 54.2 percent from the field (32-59), 50.0 percent from three-point range (6-12) and 81.8 percent from the free throw line (18-22). Boise State finished the game by shooting 46.0 from the field (23-50), but made just 2-of-17 three-pointers (.118). The Broncos were also 21-33 (.636) from the free throw line. USU also had 16 more rebounds (38-22) and six more assists (18-12) in the contest.
Both teams entered the game shooting 51.0 percent from the field to lead the nation.
Utah State will conclude its regular season on Saturday, Mar. 8 at Idaho (8-19, 5-10) beginning at 8 p.m. (MT). A USU win would give the Aggies a share of the WAC regular season title and the number one seed in next week's WAC Tournament which begins on Thursday, Mar. 13 in Las Cruces, N.M.
