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Show StatesmanSports Page 10 Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 Basketball scrimmage shows mediocre defense BY TYLER HUSKINSON assistant sports editor Aggie fans got their first look at the Utah State men's basketball team during the Blue and White scrimmage Wednesday night. While it's apparent head coach Stew Morrill may have his most inexperienced group since he took over at USU, it is more visible to both Morrill and the veteran players what the team needs to do to be ready for the season kickoff on Nov. 11 when the Aggies host Brigham Young University. "We've got a long ways to go," senior forward Brady Jardine said. "It's apparent and I think that's what everyone is going to expect a little bit. You lose six guys that played a lot of minutes and you have 10 guys that come in." "We've had 10 practices, but we've got a lot of work to do defensively, offensively. I think we've got to improve on every aspect of the game and we've got to improve quick SOPHOMORE POINT GUARD E.J. FARRIS dribbles the ball in the Blue and White basketball scrimmage Wednesday night. Photo courtesy Tim Olsen, cachesportsmedia.com Friday, October 28th] because we've got some tough games coming up." The Wednesday night scrimmage was a little ragged at times and both squads struggled to make shots. "I don't know if it was a little bit of nerves or whatever," Jardine said. "The blue team couldn't make a lot of open shots and that'll happen every once in a while, but we need to do better with rebounding and things. We just need to go out and play and that will come." Many possessions from both squads resulted in lastsecond shots, but Jardine said those shots were not forced because of good defense from either team. "I wouldn't say we were playing great defense tonight," Jardine said. "We played OK defense. A lot of the end of shot clock shots was because our offense is still a little choppy. We don't have our screens as good as they need to be. We aren't in the places we need to be. We just need to have a little bit more practice to understand our plays and understand the timing of things and that we have to run our plays hard." There were some positives in the scrimmage however, Sjatu ' days Oetoler WOrfien2s )Volreyba v. LorsTna Tech 7 p.m. Spectrum ftmen'g3 Soccer San Jose State Chuck Et Gloria Bell Field` Sunday 9 October Women's Soccer Men's Basketball v. UC San Diego 7 p.m. Spectrum v. Fresno State 1 p.m. Chuck a Gloria Bell Field 01014116 7 141 especially from players who may be called upon to play minutes and make plays. Freshman forward Ben Clifford, who redshirted last season, scored a team-high eight points on 4 of 6 shooting from the field. "There were some encouraging things," Morrill said. "Ben Clifford played as well as he's played or practiced." Jardine, senior point guard Brockeith Pane and freshman guard Adam Thoseby all scored six points apiece in the scrimmage. At the end of last season, the Aggies lost six seniors from their roster. Those seniors were 68-1 in the friendly confines of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum and notched a 30-4 record last year. Morrill knows that things may be a little more difficult at times for this year's squad. "We're going to have to hang in," Morrill said. "Last year's team went through no tough times. Let's be honest, where you are 30-4, you're not having lots of tough times. We're hopefully going to have some ups, but certainly some lows and we're going to see how we respond. They've got to keep their heads up because we're just going to coach them. We're going to try and make them do things the way they need to do them to have a chance." Morrill has already taken great efforts to give all the new players a chance to learn the system and improve. Morrill often talks about the importance of consistent practice and this season's practice sessions are a bit lengthier for the team. "I've never practiced this long since a long time ago," Morrill said. "I never went this long, but we've got so many guys. Last year's guys would get through the same amount of stuff in two hours and twenty minutes, but it takes us three hours and fifteen minutes. There's time where we've practiced pretty good, but we're not consistent yet. They're good kids, so that always gives you a chance. I think they'll figure it out." Despite the growing pains, the Aggies are excited to play against someone other than themselves. "It'll be nice to play someone else who doesn't know all of our offense," Jardine said. "It'll be fun to have someone guarding you who doesn't know exactly what you like to do every time and can let you do the things you've been working on. We're looking forward to a break from playing against ourselves and seeing where we are at. That exhibition game will give us a better idea of where we are as a team and the major areas that we need to improve on." There are heavy expectations on the program which has a rich tradition of winning over the past decade, but with all the unknowns, Morrill hopes fans along with himself will exercise some patience. "Anybody who picked us to win the league is nuts," Morrill said. "All they had to do was watch that scrimmage. That was insane to me. I won't put too much stock in that. We're just going to be as good as we can and get better. We'll just do the best we can and try to get better. It's all we can do and hope the fans have patience for it and hope I do too." - ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu SENIOR POINT GUARD BROCKEITH PANE shoots over senior teammate Brady Jardine.The two are the only returning seniors on the Aggie basketball team. 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Ford, Lincoln & Nissan QuickLane at Wilson Motor Superstore 328 North Main St., Logan 1140 North Main St., Logan 435-753-2950 435-752-7356 Take a look at Show Aggie football me a in numbers Scotsman with a couple bonuses thrown in. Zero: Times Utah State has trailed opponents going into the fourth quarter. The Aggies have held the lead in the fourth quarter of every game this season. 1: Number of interceptions quarterback Chuckie Keeton has thrown all season, going 149 passes without one. 2: Times the USU offense hasn't scored in the red zone in 26 attempts. Also the number of times the USU defense has stopped opponents from scoring in the red zone on 24 attempts. 2nd chance: Number of overtimes it took for Colorado State to steal a homecoming win away in Romney Stadium. USU also had a sec- ond chance opportunity to go for two on the final play and failed twice. 3:The spot on USU's all-time career rushing touchdowns list where running back Robert Turbin currently sits with 33. 4: Number of 1-score losses Utah State has had this season. 5: The number of times the Aggies have blown a fourth quarter lead. Also the number of touchdowns Keeton had in a record-tying performance against Wyoming. 6: Utah State's national rank in rushing offense with an average of 278.4 yards per game. Highest rushing offense game was 440 against Weber State. 7: Utah State's spot in the Western Athletic Conference standings. Only the Idaho Vandals trail in eighth place with a 1-6, 0-3 record. 8: Number of yards Turbin has gone backwards while rushing this season. He had a loss of 1 yard to La. Tech, a loss of 2 yards to Wyoming, a loss of 2 yards to BYU, a loss of 1 yard to Weber State and a pair of minus 1-yard runs to Auburn. 9: Number of carries Turbin had in loss to BYU. Not considering an 80-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the game, he had eight carries for 43 yards that day. 9 minutes: The amount of time left in the first quarter in Provo when former BYU track athlete and Aggie defensive back McKade Brady was questionably ejected for leaving his feet to put a hit on freshman receiver Ross Apo. Apo already dropped the pass before being hit and was walked off the field by athletic trainers after the play. 10: Highest margin of defeat. Fresno State won 31-21 in a game USU was favored by 3.5 points, Oct. 15. The next highest margin was 7 to Louisiana Tech last week. 11: Number of games on the schedule that looked to be winnable after the Auburn game. 12: Number of games on the schedule that looked to be winnable with 3:38 to go in the Auburn game. 13: Bringer of bad luck. Representative of all things related to ancient burial grounds hindering Utah State. Just because head coach Gary Andersen doesn't believe in a curse, doesn't mean it isn't real, right? 14: Number of touchdowns Turbin scored this season, including two through the air. New Mexico State's Taveon Rogers sits at No. 2 with eight. 15: How many seconds were on the clock after the touchdown to go up 27 24 when quarterback Riley Nelson led BYU to a comeback win over his previous Utah school. 16: Chuckie Keeton, 'nuff said. Proclaimed by Gordon Monson as the best quarterback in the state. He has 101 completions on 162 attempts for 1,147 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. Keeton has added 229 yards and another four touchdowns on the ground. 17: Number of years between wins over BYU before last season's 31-16 victory in Logan. Aggie fans will be holding onto that one for a long time, even though the revenge game already took place. 18: Number of points USU has been outscored by in the fourth quarter in all games combined — 45 for, 63 against. 19: Number of points Wyoming scored against Utah State, all in the first half — 12 points came within 6 seconds of each other when returner Kerwynn Williams let the kickoff go between his legs and settle in the end zone where it was recovered by the Cowboys for a touchdown. 20: Number of tackles linebacker Bobby Wagner leads the WAC with. He has 89 total. It is also the number of tackles he had in the game against Louisiana Tech for a career-high. 79: Number of yards covered on a touchdown pass from Diondre Bore! to Xavier Martin in the BYU game, which directly led to Keeton's signing. OK, so when the student sec- tion chanted his name, that didn't hurt either. - Tavin Stucki is a sophomore majoring in print journalism. He is the sports editor for The Utah Statesman and writes USU football stories for ksl.com. He is an avid Aggie fan and has been since birth. Follow him on Twitter at @ tavinstucki for football updates. Send any comments to tavin.stucki@aggiemaiLusu.edu . |