From Deseret News archives:
Utah State basketball: Aggie star sad to face final home game
Carroll, along with Stephen DuCharme and Kris Clark, will be playing their final regular-season home game of their careers tonight when the Aggies (20-9, 9-4) host Fresno State (13-16, 5-9).
Carroll is the only one of the three to play four years in Logan, and during his time there, the Aggies are 57-4, and the losses were to Pacific, Nevada, New Mexico State and Fresno State.
Who can blame him for being a tad sad?
In 61 games at the Smith Spectrum, Carroll is averaging 19.3 points per game (1,178 points). His career-high of 44 points came last year against New Mexico State when he shot 12-of-16 from the field (5-of-7 from 3-point range) and 15-of-15 from the foul line. And for good measure, he grabbed 10 rebounds.
"I'm looking forward to it (the game with Fresno) but at the same time it's the last game, and it's unfortunate," Carroll said.
"I'd love to play 100 more games here."
He also broke Utah State's scoring record with a 3-pointer against Idaho, Jan. 19.
Typically, Senior Night hasn't been good to Carroll. He has failed to start only two games in his career at Utah State and they came on Senior Night his freshman and sophomore seasons, when Utah State coach Stew Morrill started a senior in his stead both times. Last year, though, the Aggies had just three seniors, so he got to start.
In the two games he didn't start (Idaho and San Jose State) he scored five and four points, respectively, while last year, in a loss to Fresno State, he shot just 2-of-12 from the field and scored just six points in 38 minutes. He hasn't been held in single digits since.
"It should be a great game and a great atmosphere and a celebration like coach Morrill said," Carroll added. "Not a death, but a celebration."
DuCharme, a junior college transfer from Hutchinson Community College, also had some of his best games in the Spectrum. In games against Nevada last year, he had 20 points and eight rebounds, and the next game he scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds against Fresno State.
Clark, a transfer from Vincennes University, has had three 10-assist games in the Spectrum.
The crowd should arrive early. The three seniors will be honored 15 minutes before the start of the game with the Bulldogs.
Utah State is 16-0 at the Spectrum this year and is the only team in the WAC that hasn't lost a game at home. The Aggies' 16-game home winning streak is tied for the eighth-longest in the nation this year.
Should the Aggies win, it would be their record fourth time going undefeated at home since the 1957-58 season. They also went undefeated at home in 1973-74 (14-0), 1997-98 (15-0) and 2000-01 (15-0). They were 14-0 last year before losing to Fresno State, 71-66, in the home season-finale.
The Bulldogs enter the game on a six-game road losing streak. The Aggies won 77-72 earlier this year in Fresno.
Utah State leads the all-time series 22-19 and is 16-5 in games played in Logan.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com
