Basketball in full swing during winter break
Utah State will play eight games over the holiday break, including the Athletes in Action tournament, sponsored by Gossner Foods. The schedule has six home games and two road games. Also, conference play will begin Jan. 5 at home against Fresno State.
Here’s a rundown for each matchup:
Wichita State – Wichita, Kan., Dec. 10
The Shockers will be a tough task. Wichita State 6-2 defeated then No. 20 University of Nevada, Las Vegas 89-70 at home and barely fell to No. 15 Alabama.
Senior guard Toure’ Murry averages 13.8 points per game to lead a trio of Shockers who are averaging double digits. Joe Ragland and Garrett Stutz average 11 points per game and three other Wichita State players average just under 10 points per game.
Utah State defeated Wichita State 68-58 in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010, as part of the ESPNU Bracketbuster.
Seattle – Logan, Dec. 17
After its journey to Wichita, USU will be at home for four consecutive games. The Aggies will face a future Western Athletic Conference foe in the Seattle Redhawks.
Senior guard Aaron Brussard leads Seattle in scoring with 14 points per game, while Eric Wallace averages 10.5 points per game.
Seattle is 2-4 on the season but the Redhawks have traditionally been successful in basketball, despite not having a conference affiliation.
Athletes in Action Classic – Sponsored by Gossner Foods
This season’s greatest test at home might come during the Athletes in Action Classic sponsored by Gossner Foods. This season the Aggies welcome St. Peter’s, Kent State and and University of Texas, Arlington.
St. Peter’s won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season, and Kent State is perennially one of the top mid-major basketball programs.
Arlington is a future WAC foe from the same conference as Texas A&M, Corpus Christi. The Aggies fell to Corpus Christi on the road earlier this season 58-55 in overtime.
Mississippi State – Starkville, Miss., Dec. 31
The Bulldogs are currently ranked No. 18 and might be the most difficult opponent USU faces all season.
The Aggies will not likely see Mississippi State in the Spectrum, because head coach Stew Morrill began scheduling games against tougher opponents with no return-game guarantee last season.
Fresno State – Logan, Jan. 5
USU will open WAC play the week before school begins with a home series against Fresno State. The Bulldogs are 4-5 with losses to future-WAC member University of Texas, San Antonio on Nov. 22, and Manhattan on Nov. 21.
This game will be the final game between the two schools as members of the WAC, because both Fresno State and Nevada are leaving at the end of the season to move to the Mountain West Conference.
Nevada – Logan, Jan, 7
The Wolf Pack has a decent overtime win 76-73 over the University of Washington on Dec. 2, but also lost by 22 at home to Missouri State in the first game of the season.
Nevada also lost to BYU 76-55 in Salt Lake City on Nov. 25.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu.