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Show StatesmanSports Page 10 Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012 MEN'S BASKETBALL Added size, numbers help big men on campus BY JUSTIN HARRISON staff writer The Utah State men's basketball team has three players above 6-foot-10 inches tall and plenty of others with a ton of talent to help the Aggies win games this season. The return of senior Kyisean Reed, sophomore Jordan Stone and sophomore Danny Berger combined with the additions of centers Matt Lopez and Jarred Shaw means good things for Utah State basketball this winter. Standing at 6-foot-6, Reed had some monster dunks that electrified the Spectrum last season and will be looked upon by many to provide leadership on the court this year. "Kyisean Reed has really stepped up and done a good job," said USU associate coach Tim Duryea. "He's our most vocal guy." As the only senior on the team this year, Reed has the most to gain from the increase of size down low this season. Reed was almost nonexistent in some games last season, while other times dominating in the post. Reed has had a year already behind him to get head coach Stew Morrill's system down. With the confidence to perform extremely well, expect Reed to be more active around the rim and making big plays. "Bigger guys at the rim sucks the defense in, so it allows me to move around, space more, drive kick and get more open shots," Reed said. Along with Reed, Ben Clifford is another Aggie who will benefit from the added size in the post positions. The 6-foot-7 forward will be more able to create space and make shots. "Ben Clifford gives you a solid effort every day, physical play, understands what he's doing and he's more of a leader by example," Duryea said. Clifford should continue to mold into an important cog in Morrill's system, and with a couple more years left, could become a team leader. A late transfer from LaSalle, the 6-foot-11 Lopez poses a threat to create a lot of scoring opportunities for teammates. He will be an asset to the low post in being able to rebound, a weakness for the team last year. Due to NCAA transfer rules, the sophomore is ineligible to play until after the fall 2012 semester ends but will help Utah State in the WAC portion of the schedule. A transfer from Oklahoma UTAH STATE CENTERS LOUNGE in the Spectrum seats after basketball practice. From left to right, sophomore Matt Lopez, sophomore Jordan Stone and junior Jarred Shaw. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo State, Shaw is one of the most exciting additions to USU. After sitting all of the 2011 season, the 6-foot-10 junior knows Morrill's system and should bring an immediate impact to the low post. Shaw's rebounding and ability to create second-chance points on offense will give the Aggies an edge. "It's a matter of me taking over, doing what I got to do," Shaw said of his expectations to run the offense through the post. "Morrill is handing it to me, so I got to do what I'm supposed to do." Shaw's size and scoring ability will likely draw doubleteams from undersized opponents. "Coach Stew's system is for big guys, so we will be getting the ball a lot," Shaw said. Stone is another big man with a year of Aggie basketball under his belt. In his first year on the team, the 6-foot-10 center had time to learn the system while picking up playing time. On the court, Stone's play produced varied results. "Jordan Stone is still young in the game, even though he has been around for a year," Duryea said. Stone should see a lot of time before the end of the semester when Matt Lopez gets into the rotation as part of an offensive core with the ability to score in the paint and allow the perimeter players to take more three point shots. "In my twelve years here, this is the biggest set of big guys," Duryea said. "Looking at our team on the front end, we're bigger and we shoot the ball better." – justin.w.ha@aggiemaiLusu. edu SOCCER Aggies used entire season to prepare for conference finale BY JASON BORBA staff writer With one game remaining in the regular season, the Utah State women's soccer team is on the verge of clinching their second consecutive Western Athletic Conference regular season championship. The team currently has a 10-2-6 overall record and are 5-0-2 in conference play. The only remaining game left on the schedule for USU is a home match against second-place Louisiana Tech. "We have set ourselves up to win the outright regular season championship next week," USU head coach Heather Cairns said. "If we win, the worst we can do is be co-champs." USU senior defender Natalie Norris was named one of 10 finalists for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate soccer. The award is given to student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. "(Norris) is obviously a stud on the field but if you know her off the field, you know about her character, commitment to academics and commitment to the community," Cairns said. "She is the total package." Norris said she is humbled by the experience. AGGIE FRESHMAN MARIS HAMBLIN makes a move for the ball in USU's 1-0 win over San Jose State at Bell Field on Friday. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo "I honestly didn't think I would make it into the top 10," Norris said. "To see all the publicity that has been going around to get votes for me has made me even more humble, and so grateful for the support from the school, my teammates, my family and friends." The Aggies began their 2012 campaign with wins over Southern Utah, Utah and UTEP. The game against Utah was on the road at Rio Tinto Stadium and was decided in overtime when junior Jennifer Flynn scored the golden goal. "Coming from last year, we know we have a target on our LATE NIGHT HAPPY HOUR BUFFET backs and I think we are playing up to that," Flynn said. "I think we are just continuously getting better and better." The Aggies remained undefeated with a 1-1 tie with Creighton and a 3-1 win over Nebraska. USU's unbeaten ways changed with a 1-0 loss despite outshooting Northern Colorado 18-5. "We started the season doing well just not our best we knew we could do more," Norris said. "As we progressed throughout the season, we got up big for some huge opponents including the top-25 9 NOW ONLY 2 GREAT TIMES. ONE LOW PRICE. Late Night: 8-10pm Weekdays 9-11 pm Weekends we would meet, and having that experience under our belt would be a great thing for us." Since their six game winless streak, the Aggies have gone on another streak. USU has won five straight games, and all those wins coming in conference play. The team has scored 13 goals while allowing two. "We had that dry spell of 0-0 ties for a little bit, or any type of tie, but we finally able to connect after a whole week of practice where we just worked on offense," Norris said. "We finally opened the gates of scoring with our first WAC weekend at home, and after that it has been putting the details on the field." USU defeated UTSA and Texas State 3-0 and 4-0 respectively. They traveled to Seattle and Moscow and won 2-1 over Seattle University and 3-1 against Idaho. Their latest game was a 1-0 route of San Jose State University. "We have matured and gelled throughout the season," Cairns said. "Our defense has been solid throughout and that's kept us in a lot of games. Our attack is maturing and our ability to possess is maturing. I feel like we are peaking at the right time going into the conference tournament." The win over San Jose gave coach Cairns reached a milestone — She became the winningest coach in program history with 100 wins. Over her last 10 years at the helm of the USU soccer program, Cairns has amassed a 100-7725 record. Flynn leads all USU scorers with six goals followed by Tarver and junior Mari Miyashiro with four goals each. Mulford and the Aggie defense have earned eight shutouts this season. "Our biggest asset on defense is just our cohesiveness, we always work really well together and we always cover for each other no matter what," Norris said. "We know if we go up for a ball there will be someone behind us, or if someone pulls forward we will have someone filling in. Knowing we have that trust within each other it gives us a whole other level that we can play on, and know we can do the best that we can by working as a unit." The Aggies are peaking at the right time with just one regular season game remaining on their schedule against Louisiana Tech on Oct. 29 at home. – jborba@aggiemaiLusu.edu Twitter: @JBorbal5 STUDENT SEASON Now On Sale for $300 2012-13 Season This price valid through November 21. Logan office now open 9 a.m - 5:30 p.m. Monday Through Saturday USU students must present written proof that they are currently enrolled. Sale applies to high school and middle school students, also. Happy Hour: 2-4pm Weekdays * PizzaPieCafe YM 25 E 1400 N Logan (435) 753.5590 Next to Harbor Freight teams. We played probably our best games of the season against them." USU beat Utah Valley and Eastern Washington before facing three ranked teams in Washington, BYU and Denver during a six-game stretch. The Aggies were winless in those six, but lost only once and scored two goals. "The most difficult part has been putting the team together and getting them to peak at the right time," Cairns said. "In the beginning of the season we weren't losing games, we were tying an awful lot." The Aggies made history against Washington by being the first team to tie against a ranked opponent with a 59th minute Flynn goal. USU played in nine overtime games, winning three and tying six. Despite not beating any of their ranked opponents, Cairns said the Aggies faired very well with two ties and just a 1-0 loss to BYU. "I think those games gave us a lot of confidence and in the end we were a little bitter about not winning, particularly against Washington," Cairns said. "If we are fortunate to make it to the NCAA tournament... That's more than likely the type of team real american pizza Students under 18 must have signed parent's release. Clbeaver mountain 1351 East 700 North Logan www.skithebeay.com |