NCAA win the finish of a great season for Aggies
Expectations were high as the Utah State University basketball team took the floor for the first of the season. Head coach Stew Morrill was wary of expectations, telling his players constantly, “be careful what you wish for.”
USU Athletic Director Rance Pugmire said at the rally Tuesday night in the Spectrum that when the team was 5-1 early in the season, people were asking him, “When’s your basketball team going to get it together?”
Fans were wishing for the same outcome in the Big West Conference season as the 1999-2000 season – an undefeated one. Morrill was cautious answering to those expectations, saying the Aggies lived a “charmed life” last year and would be hardpressed to repeat it. He said all along that a 13-3 record would win the league. He was wrong, however, as USU achieved just that record and wasn’t on top of the conference standings when the season was over.
According to Morrill, the University of California at Irvine lived almost the same charmed life as USU the year before. The Anteaters finished conference play 15-1. The only blemish? The Aggies.
They didn’t win the regular season title, but the Aggies won when it counted most and received an invite to the NCAA Tournament, while UCI was relegated to a berth in the NIT, where it was defeated in its first game. A few Aggie players said they were disappointed to miss another shot at Irvine in the BWC Championship game like they thought they would because they wanted to give the Anteaters even more payback for an event that happened earlier in the season.
UCI put the hurt on at the Bren Events Center Jan. 31 and defeated the Aggies, 56-51, snapping their 12-game winning streak and undefeated conference season. A week later the Aggies pounded Irvine, 67-52, in the Spectrum to give the Anteaters their only league loss. USU would suffer two other debacles in league, one to Long Beach State University in Long Beach and a one-point heartbreaker in overtime to Boise State University in Boise.
One positive note early in USU’s season was defeating two in-state opponents – a vast improvement over the year before, when the Aggies were 0-3 against teams within the state. USU escaped with a 58-57 over the University of Utah, then ranked 22, in the Spectrum Dec. 6. The three Utes’ shots dropped just before the final buzzer. Weber State University also fell victim to the Aggies, 89-77, in the Spectrum Dec. 23. In that game USU forward Curtis Bobb recorded a career high of 20 points.
The Aggies’ only in-state defeat came at the hands of Brigham Young University in Provo, 69-67. Morrill said later that he went away thinking his Aggies had really won that contest.
Perhaps no moment was more memorable for the Aggies than when, after heading into the first round of the NCAA Tournament as underdogs to Ohio State University, they came out on top, 77-68, in overtime for their first tourney victory since 1970.
USU senior point guard Bernard Rock said the OSU game was a special moment for him.
“The win’s just awesome,” said junior shooting guard Tony Brown, whose last-second shot sent the Buckeye game into overtime.
Though five seniors are departing from this year’s squad, USU coaches are optimistic about the future. Assistant Randy Rahe said next year will be fun – people might expect the Aggies to be in the middle of the pack. They might be surprised, he said. With six returnees that saw action this year and two junior college transfers, the Aggies may be a force to be reckoned with.