Utah State's basketball team plays no practice games prior to its Nov. 18 season opener with Simon Fraser, so Monday night's Blue-White scrimmage was the Aggies' only chance to play competitively with a crowd watching. A crowd of 2,400 sloshed through the snow to watch the White team, led by Jarobi Kemp and newcomer Maurice Spillers, defeat the Blues 45-30.
The teams played two 10-minute halves without any substitutions since only 10 healthy players were available.The White lead was never less than 10 points in the second half. It opened the game with a 7-0 lead, six of the points scored by veteran Corwin Woodard. "Woodard was exceptional," said second-year coach Larry Eustachy. "His level of play was above everybody else."
The Whites shot 62 percent from the field; the Blues were 0-for-7 on three-pointers.
"It's about what we expected," said Eustachy, adding it would be a "2 or 3 on a scale of 1-10. We will need 8 and 9 to beat the teams on this year's schedule. We're not ready to play anybody yet," Eustachy said. "We're not close to being prepared to face Boise State and BYU."
Point guard Kemp had 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, 2-for-2 on three-pointers. He had two steals but committed six turnovers. Spillers, a 6-foot-6 forward transfer from Southwest College (Los Angeles), scored 14, also on 6-for-9 shooting. He had five rebounds. Woodard added nine points, missing once from the field.
Silas Mills, the former University of Utah recruit, scored 14 points and had nine rebounds to top the Blue team. Eric Franson scored 10 points but shot 2-for-7 from the field. He was 6-for-8 on free throws.
The Blue team: Mills, Franson, Roddy Anderson, Myron Simms and Covington Cormier. The White: Spillers, Kemp, Woodard, Jermaine Womack and Nate Wickizer. Veteran Jon Wickizer sat out because of an eye injury earlier in the day.
"Our new guys struggled some," said Eustachy, "but I thought our older kids played better."