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WNBASan Jose State (13-16) At Utah State (26-4)
GAME NOTES: The Utah State Aggies thank the hometown crowd for a fantastic season as they close out 2008-09 with a date against fellow Western Athletic Conference member San Jose State at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan tonight. Already guaranteed a place in the postseason by winning the regular- season crown in the WAC the Aggies, owners of the second-longest home win streak in the nation at 33 games, now try to close out with their 27th victory against a team that lost to USU by just four points (62-58) in the first meeting of the season. The Aggies have now had a week to think about their lopsided loss to Nevada at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno last weekend (84-71) and what it will take to get through the WAC Tournament beginning next week. The setback was the second in the last three outings for Utah State. As for the Spartans, they were blown out of the water by Nevada in Thursday night's meeting in Reno by a final of 89-66. The loss snapped a two-game win streak for SJSU, which is now just 6-9 in conference play and sitting in sixth place in the standings. With regards to the all-time series between these two teams, USU is in complete control of the relationship with 41 wins in 62 opportunities.
C.J. Webster tallied a team-best 22 points and cleared 12 rebounds, but by no means was it nearly enough to keep the Spartans competitive against Nevada in Reno two nights ago. Webster made good on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and 8-of-11 at the free-throw line, while also rolling up an astounding eight offensive rebounds in the road loss. Adrian Oliver had trouble finding the range the entire night, converting just one of his 11 field goal attempts, en route to a feeble three points. Justin Graham attacked on 12 points for a team that shot just 36.4 percent from the floor. After Thursday night's performance one has to wonder which version of Adrian Oliver is due to appear in the season finale because he has shown two extremely different personas. Having played in 15 of the team's 28 games this season, Oliver leads the program with 17.4 ppg, but at the same time he has made just 24.5 percent of his three- point attempts. Graham seems to be more of a stabilizing factor for the group with his 8.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 4.8 apg, not to mention a team-best 50 steals as well.
The loss to Nevada took some wind out of the USU sails, but it wasn't as though the Aggies played a poor game by any means. Gary Wilkinson, one of the nation's leading shooters, finished with 16 points, followed by Jared Quayle with 12 and six boards, while Tai Wesley put together a healthy stat line with 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, against just a single turnover. Overall this season the Aggies have been outscoring opponents by an average of nearly 11 points per game, shooting just under 50 percent from the field in the process. It also helps that USU has been in control of the glass by a margin of seven rebounds per game as well. Wilkinson (17.1 ppg) is hitting shots at a 58.8 percent clip, followed by Quayle (12.6 ppg) and Wesley (12.1 ppg) in the scoring department as the trio combines to clear about 21 rebounds per game along the way as well. For much of this season the Aggies had made more free throws than the opposition had even taken, and that has been a distinct advantage for the program even though the scoring margin in that area is now just 87.
With a week to digest the loss to Nevada, the Aggies are probably chomping at the bit to get back on the court, while the Spartans would more than likely want to run and hide after their performance versus the Wolf Pack two nights ago. While the game could easily be a blowout, expect the Aggies to give some of the bench players their due for hanging in all season.
Predicted OutcomeUtah State 72, San Jose State 65Copyright 2009 Courtesy of The Sports Network.
San Jose State
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