NMSU next up for Ags
After eight conference games, the Utah State men’s basketball team will finally face the New Mexico State Aggies Thursday in Las Cruces, N.M.
The game will be the first of two on the road this weekend for USU, as the Aggies will play at Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
The game will be available to watch in the Sunburst Lounge in the TSC at 7 p.m.
“This is a wild and crazy week for us,” head coach Stew Morrill said. “It will be a tremendous challenge in terms of energy level. That’s what you worry most about.”
Morrill said it is unusual to have not played a conference foe at this point of the season.
“It’s odd how [the WAC schedule] is unfolding with nine teams,” he said.
NMSU has jumped out to a 4-3 record in the Western Athletic Conference despite going only 4-7 in non-conference games.
These Aggies are led by Tyrone Nelson, who averages 18.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Mike Mitchell and Elijah Ingram also score in double figures on average.
Morrill said the strength of NMSU is its quickness.
“NMSU is an interesting team,” he said. “Their lack of size doesn’t hurt as much because of their quickness.
“They present the same problems as Cal-State Fullerton. They’re quick and small. The have a nice mix of good basketball players.”
In three of the last four USU games, the Aggies have appeared to be on their heels when a player has stepped up and made back-to-back 3-point shots to give the team the momentum it needed to win the game.
When USU trailed LTU 46-43 on Jan. 18, Chris Huber made two consecutive 3-pointers to give the Aggies a three-point lead, starting a 15-5 run to carry USU to victory.
On Jan. 23, USU led at Nevada by 11 when the Wolf Pack went on an 8-0 run. With the Nevada crowd finally in the game with their team gaining momentum, Durrall Peterson hit two big shots from long range on consecutive possessions to give USU a nine-point lead.
Monday against Hawai’i, the Rainbow Warriors were on a 15-2 run and had cut a 20-point deficit to seven, Jaycee Carroll hit two in a row from downtown to put the Aggies back up by 13.
“I hope that says something about our guys,” Morrill said.
He said the players are really feeding off each other at this point.
“We have a good group of kids, character-wise,” he said. “We don’t have the same issues that other teams deal with in college basketball. They like each other. People assume that they always like each other, but that’s not always the case.
“You always like each other a lot more when you win.”
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Warrior Ahmet Gueye lands on Utah State’s Chaz Spicer after a head-fake as Warrior Chris Botez defends. The Aggies won the game 63-52, which started at 10 p.m. on ESPN2.