OCR Text |
Show BASKETBALL PREVIEW SPECIAL, Oct. 17, 2 0 0 5 Page 18 2006-07: A look back at a fun, successful season Make It Eight Straight - As in eight straight 23-win seasons and eight straight postseason appearances (5 NCAA, 3 NIT). And with just two starters and five lettermen returning from the previous year's NCAA Tournament team, who would have predicted another 23 win season and another trip to the postseason? Well, that is exactly what the 2006-07 Utah State Basketball team accomplished under head coach Stew Morrill as it posted a 23-12 record and advanced to its eighth straight postseason tournament participating in the 2007 Mastercard National Invitation Tournament. And Utah State accomplished all of this despite losing three starters from pionship. Utah State continued its winning ways during the next three weeks with five more victories, including a thrilling 60-57 win against Utah in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. USU also recorded in-state victories against Weber State and at Utah Valley State during its winning streak to raise its record to 8-1 on the young season. With a successful 10-3 non-conference record, Utah State began its second year in the Western Athletic Conference with high hopes and postseason aspirations. After opening league play with a pair of road losses, Utah State responded with five straight wins, including a comefrom-behind 80-79 victory against Boise State as the Aggies scored the final 10 points of the game. Utah State posted another five-game winning Time streak in the first two weeks 7:05 p.m. of February with league 7:05 p.m. victories against San Jose 7:05 p.m. State, New Mexico State, 7:05 p m Idaho and Hawai'i to go 7:05 p.m. along with a convincing 8:05 p m 8:05 p m road win at Mid-Continent 7:05 p.m. conference champion Oral Roberts in the annual 5:05 p.m. BracketBusters game to 4/&30pjT). notch its 20th win of the season. 7:05 p.m. As the calendar 8:05 p m turned to March, Utah State 8:05 p m recorded one of its biggest 7:05 p.m. wins in recent memory, defeating ninth-ranked 5:30 pjn Nevada at home 79-77 in 8:05 p.m. overtime. After conclud5:30 pjrt ing the season with a loss ftOSpjn. to Fresno State, Utah State 7.-05 p.m. entered the 2007 Western Athletic Conference Tourna7:05 p.m. ment as the fourth seed 8:05 p.m. and a first round date with 7:05 p.m. Hawai'i, a team the Aggies 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m. split with during the regular 6:05 pxn. season. £05 p m As has become the norm with Utah State 7:05 p.m. basketball under Coach 8:05 p m Morrill, the Aggies once 7:05 p.m. again flexed its muscles 10fl5pm In tournament play and 8:05 pm defeated the Rainbow WarTBA riors 73-70 to advance to &05pjm. the next round. USU then faced lOth-ranked Nevada 7:05 p.m. In the semifinals and de7:05 p m feated the Wolf Pack for the 8:05 p m second time in eight days, 79-77. With the victory, TBA Utah State advanced to the TBA championship game of its conference tournament for the seventh time in the last eight years, but lost to host New Mexico State by two points. back-to-back NCAA Tournament teams, including the graduation of the winningest player in school history in Nate Harris. After starting the year with an 88-71 loss at Northwestern State, its first season-opening defeat in 13 years, Utah State began to lay the foundation for what would become another outstanding basketball season. It all started with a sixpoint win against Centenary in the opening round of the 2006 BPTop of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. USU then crushed Missouri Valley Conference member Drake by 18 points in the semifinals of the tournament, followed by a 13-point win against Weber State the next night to claim the tournament cham- 2007-08 Men's Basketball Schedule Date ODDonent Location Wed., Oct. 31 Sat., Nov. 3 Fit, Nov. 9 Sat.. Nov. 10 Mon., Nov. 12 Thur., Nov. 15 Sat., Nov. 17 Tues.. Nov. 20 Ri.Sat., Nov. 23-24 Fri.,Nov.23 $atv Nov. 24 EA SPORTS (Ex.) LAVAL UNIVERSITY (Ex.) SOUTHERN UTAH Weber State "MONTANA-WESTERN CalPoty UC Irvine 'AUSTIN PEAY South Padre Island Invitational vs. VanderbBt vs. Bradley/Iowa Dee Glen SrnJHi Spectrum Dee Glen SmBh Spectrum Dee Glen SmBh Spectrum O g d e a Utah Dee Glen Smith Spectrum San Luis Obtspa CaSf. livine. Calf. Dee Glen SmBh Spectrum South Padre, Texas South Padre, Texas South Padre. Texas Sat., Dec. 1 Wed.. Dec. 5 Sat., Dec. 8 Sat., Dec. 15 mur.-ftt. Dec. 20-21 Thur,, Dec. 20 Sat.. Dec. 29 SANTA CLARA Utah CSBakersfieW PRAIRIE VIEW A * M GOSSNER FOODS CLASSIC Furman vs. Northern Arizona Utah State vs. Utah VaBey Consolation Game Championship Game ORAL ROBERTS Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Satt Lake City, Utah Bakersfleid, Colt. Dee Gten SmBh Spectrum Dee Glen Smffh Spectrum Dee Gten SmBh Spectrum Dee Gten Smffti Spectrum Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Dee Gten Smith Spectrum Thur., Jan. 3 Sat., Jan. 5 Sat., Jan. 12 Thur., Jan. 17 Sat., Jan. 19 Thur.. Jan. 24 Sat., Jan. 26 •HAWAII *Nevada •NEW MEXICO STATE *B01SE STATE *IDAHO •Louisiana Tech *New Mexico Stale Dee Gten Smith Spectrum Reno, Nev. Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Ruston, La. Las Cruces, N.M. Sat., Feb. 2 Thur,. Feb. 7 Sat., Feb. 9 Sat.. Feb. 16 Mon., Feb. 18 Sat., Feb. 23 Thur, Feb. 28 •NEVADA •Fresno State •SAN JOSE STATE •Hawaii •San Jose State ESPN BRACKETBUSTER •LOUISIANA TECH Dee Glen Smith Specbum Fresno. Calif. Dee Glen Smflh Spectrum Honolulu, Hawaii San Jose, Calf. Dee Gten Smflh Spectrum Dee Glen Sm9h Specbum Mon., Mar. 3 Thur., Mar. 6 Sat., Mar. 8 •FRESNO STATE •Boise State •Idaho Dee Gten SmBh Spectrum Boise, Idaho Moscow, Idaho Tues.-Sat.. Mar. 11-15 Thur.-Sun.. Mar. 20-23 WAC Tournament NCAA First & Second Rounds Las Cruces, N.M. TBA Fit, Dec. 21 A Denotes South Padre Wand Invitational prefminaiy round game. *Denotes Western Athletic Conference game. Home Games in BCHD AND A l l CAPS. Al times are Mountain time, tentative and subject to change. . .. With a 23-11 record and a narrow loss in the championship game of its conference's postseason tournament, Utah State was selected to play at Michigan in the first round of the 2007 Mastercard National Invitation Tournament, losing to the Wolverines, 68-58. With team success comes individual recognition and Utah State had one player who was recognized for his individual accomplishments throughout the course of the season. For the eighth straight season, USU had at least one player earn first-team all-conference honors as junior guard Jaycee Carroll was named to the WAC's first-team. Carroll also earned WAC Player of the Week honors twice during the course of the season. His first honor came after being named the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 BPTop of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. His second honor came after leading USU to a pair of wins against New Mexico State and Idaho in early February, as he scored a career-high 44 points against the Southern Aggies to go along with 28 points against the Vandals. Those 44 points scored against NMSU rank as . the seventh-most in a single-game in school history and the most by a Utah State player since the 1969-70 campaign. Utah State also had two players named to the WACs postseason all-tournament team In Carroll and : Chaz Spicer. During the tournament Carroll averaged 24.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while Spicer averaged 17.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Carroll, who earned second- • See 2006-07, page 19 |