Utah State Announces 2002-03 Men’s Basketball Schedule

Utah State University’s head men’s basketball coach Stew Morrill announced today the upcoming 2002-03 schedule for the defending Big West Conference champions. Over the past three years, USU has compiled an incredible 79-20 record including an amazing 51-9 mark in league play.

Utah State will play a total of 31 games on the season which includes two exhibition games, 11 non-conference tilts and 18 league encounters. The Aggies will have 16 home games at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, a venue where USU has gone 82-5 (.943) over the past six seasons.

“Our schedule has a lot of challenges and it begins with the first game of the year at a very good Missouri Valley Conference team in Illinois State,” said Morrill. “We have a lot more road games than I would like, but those types of challenges will hopefully help us grow as we head into the league season.”

For the first time in three seasons, the Big West Conference will remain the same with 10 league teams. Utah State will play a total of 18 league games on the year in a round-robin format with each school playing each other member institution both home and away.

Along with an always challenging league schedule, Utah State will travel to in-state rival Brigham Young and host Utah and Weber State in the same week. The Aggies will also host Idaho State, UM-Kansas City and Arkansas State in the ninth annual Gossner Foods Classic on Dec. 27-28.

Utah State will also participate in the 2002 Hawai’i-Hilo Tournament from Nov. 29-Dec. 1 joining Vermont, Drake and Hawai’i-Hilo. Two years ago, USU participated in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska finishing in second-place, and three years ago the Aggies went 2-1 and finished in fifth-place in the prestigious Maui Classic.

Of the 14 regular season home games on the schedule, USU will appear on television at least twice as Fox Sports Net West 2 will venture from Southern California to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum to broadcast USU’s game against UC Irvine on Thur., Feb. 13 as well as the Aggies encounter with Cal State Northridge on Thur., Mar. 6.

The 2003 Big West Conference Tournament will once again be held in Anaheim, Calif. from Mar. 13-15 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be held on Mar. 20-23.

2002 Utah State Men’s Basketball Schedule

Date Opponent Location Time Series RecordSat., Nov. 2 EA ALL-STARS (Ex.) Dee Glen Smith Spectrum TBA NAFri., Nov. 15 NEXT LEVEL (Ex.) Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. NASat., Nov. 23 Illinois State Normal, Ill. TBA USU trails 0-2Tue., Nov. 26 WHITMAN COLLEGE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. First MeetingFri.-Sun., Nov. 29-Dec. 1 Hawai’i-Hilo Tournament Hilo, Hawai’iFri., Nov. 29 Vermont Hilo, Hawai’i TBA First MeetingSat., Nov. 30 Drake Hilo, Hawai’i TBA USU trails 0-1Sun., Dec. 1 Hawai’i-Hilo Hilo, Hawai’i TBA USU leads 1-0

Sat., Dec. 7 Jackson State Jackson, Miss. TBA First MeetingSat., Dec. 14 Brigham Young Provo, Utah TBA USU trails 86-132Tue., Dec. 17 UTAH Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU trails 88-126Sat., Dec. 21 WEBER STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 28-24Fri.-Sat., Dec. 27-28 Gossner Foods Classic Dee Glen Smith SpectrumFri., Dec. 27 UM-Kansas City vs. Idaho State Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 5:30 p.m. Arkansas State vs. Utah State Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 8:05 p.m. First MeetingSat., Dec. 28 Consolation Game Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 5:30 p.m. Championship Game Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 8:05 p.m.

Thur., Jan 2 *CS Northridge Northridge, Calif. 8:05 p.m. USU leads 5-1Sat., Jan. 4 *Pacific Stockton, Calif. 8:05 p.m. USU leads 41-18Thur., Jan. 9 *CAL POLY Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 8-1Sat., Jan. 11 *UC SANTA BARBARA Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 32-22Wed., Jan. 15 *UC Irvine (KDOC-TV) Irvine, Calif. 8:05 p.m. USU leads 25-24Sat., Jan. 18 *Long Beach State Long Beach, Calif. 8:35 p.m. USU leads 26-21Thur., Jan. 23 *UC RIVERSIDE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 4-0Sat., Jan. 25 *CS FULLERTON Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 32-16

Sat., Feb. 1 *Idaho Moscow, Idaho 8:05 p.m. USU leads 16-10Thur., Feb. 6 *UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, Calif. 8:05 p.m.Sat., Feb. 8 *Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Calif. 8:05 p.m.Thur., Feb. 13 *UC IRVINE (Fox Sports Net West 2) Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 6:35 p.m.Sat., Feb. 15 *LONG BEACH STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m.Thur., Feb. 20 *CS Fullerton Fullerton, Calif. 8:05 p.m.Sat., Feb. 22 *UC Riverside Riverside, Calif. 8:05 p.m.

Sat., Mar. 1 *IDAHO Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m.Thur., Mar. 6 *CS NORTHRIDGE (Fox Sports Net West 2) Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 6:35 p.m.Sat., Mar. 8 *PACIFIC Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m.Thur.-Sat., Mar. 13-15 Big West Tournament Anaheim, Calif. TBAThur.-Sun., Mar. 20-23 NCAA First & Second Rounds TBA TBA

*Denotes Big West Conference game.Home Games in BOLD AND ALL CAPS.All times are Mountain time zone, tentative and subject to change.