Aggie men’s basketball ends season on road
With their fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference championship locked up, it would appear that the No. 21 Utah State Aggies (26-3, 13-1 WAC) don’t have much to play for, but head coach Stew Morrill is trying to help his crew avoid any let-down. The Aggies still have much to play for, and that is the message that Morrill is hoping to convey this week as they prep for their final games of the regular season.
“The very best thing that we can do is to try and keep winning, obviously,” Morrill said. “Hopefully we understand that and we are excited about where we are at and what we need to do. As a team, we have tried to have fun with it and making them feel good about what they have accomplished, and yet still be excited about what they can still accomplish. We keep talking about those things in a positive manner and we will continue to do so.”
The Aggies may also have revenge on their mind as the take the floor at the Pan American Center tonight to face the other Aggies of the WAC, in New Mexico State. The Aggies sputtered at the beginning of WAC play last season, as they fell on the road to New Mexico State (55-52) and Louisiana Tech (82-60).
“I hope they look at it as a chance for some payback but I am not sure that they will sense we have already beat both of these team, granted it was at home when we beat them,” Morrill said. “It will be brought up that they thumped us last year. You have to be ready as a team and know what you are in for. Sometimes the payback for our seniors came when we played them the first time, so I’m not really sure as to what effect that will have on these games.
Utah State only defeated New Mexico State 59-49 earlier in the season, and USU expects another battle, especially on New Mexico State’s home court.
“New Mexico State is undefeated at home this season, in conference play, and they get really juiced up when they play us,” Morril said. “The fact that we have won the regular season, some of the past history we have with them, and the fact that they beat us in the tournament last season, I am sure they will be ready to go.”
Utah State should be ready for whatever New Mexico State bring its way however, as they have had teams gunning at them every single game.
“They get geared up to play us, there is just no question about that,” Morrill said of New Mexico State. “That isn’t something new to this team though. We have won the conference several years in a row now and we have come to expect everyone’s best shot in conference play. Add on top of all of that the fact that we are ranked No. 21 and we have a 13-1 league record, teams in the conference are going to get geared up to play you. We take teams best shots night in and night out.”
New Mexico State gives Utah State plenty of match-up difficulties, but none more than Troy Gillenwater, who leads the team with 19.3 points per game.
“Gillenwater is pretty dang good, if you look at his stats you see that he does NBA type things when he is on the floor,” Morrill said. “You think you have him covered and realize that you don’t when he shoots by you because he has so much skill and size. There are times on the bench when he does something we look at one another a say, ‘well there isn’t much we could’ve done about that.’ That’s how good he is.”
Gillenwater isn’t the only other Aggie that Utah State will be worrying about, however. New Mexico State held Utah State to 41 percent from the floor and 31 percent from 3-point land during their visit to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
“That New Mexico team is more than just one guy, that’s for sure,” Morrill said. “The matchup with New Mexico State is the same old problems that we always have when we face them. They are big, they are quick and they cause all kinds of problems for us. They always seem to play us man-to-man and they get into us, and block shots, and overplay on defense.”
Game time is set for 9 p.m. in Las Cruces, N.M., and can be seen on ESPN2.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu