April 6, 2007

LOGAN, Utah - 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 last 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 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 six-point win against Centenary in the opening round of the 2006 BP Top 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 championship.

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 wins 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 come-from-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 streak in the first two weeks of February with league victories against San Jose State, New Mexico State, Idaho and Hawai'i to go along with a convincing road win at Mid-Continent conference champion Oral Roberts in the annual BracketBusters game to notch its 20th win of the season.

As the calendar turned to March, Utah State recorded one of its biggest wins in recent memory, defeating ninth-ranked Nevada at home 79-77 in overtime. After concluding the season with a loss to Fresno State, Utah State entered the 2007 Western Athletic Conference Tournament as the fourth seed and a first round date with Hawai'i, a team the Aggies split with during the regular season.

As has become the norm with Utah State basketball under Coach Morrill, the Aggies once again flexed its muscles in tournament play and defeated the Rainbow Warriors 73-70 to advance to the next round. USU then faced 10th-ranked Nevada in the semifinals and defeated the Wolf Pack for the second time in eight days, 79-77. With the victory, Utah State advanced to the 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.

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 BP Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. His second honor came after leading USU to a pair of wins against New Mexcio 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 WAC's 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-team all-WAC honors as a sophomore, finished the season ranked first in the WAC and 10th in the nation scoring with 21.3 points per game, and first in the WAC and 12th in the nation in free throw shooting at 88.8 percent. Carroll also led the league in three-point shooting at 43.2 percent, was fifth in overall shooting at 52.7 percent, and was 12th in the league in rebounding with 6.3 boards per game.

Carroll, who became just the third player in school history to led the league in scoring, finished the year with 746 points which ranks second all-time in school history trailing only Wayne Estes' 821 points scored during the 1963-64 season. Those 746 points are also tied for the eighth-most ever scored in a single-season in the 45-year history of the Western Athletic Conference.

For all of his success and accomplishments during his junior season, Carroll was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press, becoming just the third player in school history to earn All-America honors. Carroll was also named to the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District VIII team, and to the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 14 second-team.

Once again, opposing teams found out just how hard it is to play at one of the best basketball venues in the West in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Utah State posted a 13-1 record at home during the season, marking the 11th straight year in which it has lost two or fewer home games. USU also ranked fourth in the WAC in attendance, averaging almost 8,500 fans per game, including three sellouts during the season. In fact, the 8,438 fans per game were the fourth-most ever in the 37-year history of the Spectrum.

As for head coach Stew Morrill, the 2006-07 season marked the 12th time that his teams have won 20 or more games and the 18th time that his teams have won at least 17 games. In his nine years at USU, he has posted an amazing 213-75 (.740) record, including a 112-40 (.737) league mark, and a 17-5 (.773) record in conference tournaments.

As has been the case in each of the past seven seasons, unselfishness and an efficient offense served as the keys to success for Utah State. As a team, USU finished second in the country in free throw shooting at 88.8 percent. Utah State was also 53rd in the county in overall shooting (46.7), 54th in fewest personal fouls committed per game (17.0), and 66th in three-point shooting (37.3).

As for the Western Athletic Conference, Utah State led the league in free throw shooting (.888), was third in overall shooting, third in three-point shooting, and third in scoring defense (67.1).

The Aggies finished the 2006-07 season with some interesting trends. They were 13-1 on the season when leading at the half; 15-1 when they shot better from the field than their opponent; 16-2 when they had more assists than their opponent; 7-2 when they blocked more shots than their opponent; 17-3 when they had more defensive rebounds than their opponent; 14-1 when their backcourt outscored its opponents backcourt; 10-0 when they held their opponents to less than 60 points; and 14-6 when scoring 70 or more points in a game.