Aggies have won 20-straight at home
Aggie fans didn’t leave disappointed Thursday night. The Spectrum has been good to USU athletes, coaches and fans. The Aggies have now won 20 consecutive games at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Head coach Stew Morrill has a near perfect record at home, winning 39 out of the 42 games played at the Spectrum in his three years at USU.
“I found it to be a real advantage to play [UC Irvine] at the Spectrum,” Morrill said.
Not only do the Aggies win at home, they dominate at home. In the last two years, USU is 13-0 at the Spectrum against Big West Conference opponents, and has defeated the opposing team by 10 points or more in 12 of those games.
“We came out with a lot of intensity and we had the crowd in our favor,” Bernard Rock said. “We want to make sure the crowd has a good time. It’s a lot of fun.”
Curtis Bobb said he enjoyed getting the fans into the game. He said he talked specifically to a fan in the student section and told him, “Keep the crowd going!” Bobb also noted he thinks the size of the crowd intimidated the Anteaters.
“I think [UC Irvine] was a little shocked to see our place sold out,” Bobb said. “Our crowd was on them from the time they came out for warm-ups.”
The 10,114 in attendance was the second largest of the year. USU’s game against the University of Utah brought in a record 10,270.
Shawn Daniels had a particularly special person in attendance Thursday night. Daniels’ mom traveled from Bakersfield, Calif., to see her son play in what most team members called a “must-win” game.
“My mom drove all last night and got here this morning,” Daniels said. “She’s always behind me.”
Rock, Bobb and Daniels all agree that the fans help the team play better.
“We’re hard to beat at home,” Bobb said.