Not the ending Ags wanted
Wednesday night’s loss to Hawaii marked the end of a bittersweet season for the Utah State men’s basketball team.
Despite finishing the year with a record of 25-4, earning a share of the Big West Conference regular season championship and being nationally ranked for seven straight weeks, USU lost its final two games of the season, including an upset to Cal State Northridge in the Big West Tournament.
“There will be those that want to say we had a bad season,” said Aggie Head Coach Stew Morrill. “That’s just life in sports.”
After being snubbed for a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Ags were extended the opportunity to play a home game in the National Invitational Tournament, where they fell to the Rainbow Warriors 85-74, the largest home defeat since Morrill’s inception as head coach.
The defeat was the first home loss the Ags suffered this season and their sixth-straight defeat in NIT play, including four straight at home.
Still, Aggie coaches and players said losing to Hawaii was not a result of the disappointment of not being selected for the NCAA tourney.
“I’m not going to use that excuse,” Morrill said. “That’s just an excuse. We got our butts beat. They played better than we did.”
Following the game, Morrill expressed appreciation for the fans’ support of the team all season.
“I want to thank our fans,” Morrill said. “They were unbelievable tonight. They were unbelievable all year long. They stuck with us and we had a very special year.”
By the numbers
24 – points for Spencer Nelson marked a new-career high.
28 – points by Hawaii’s Michael Kuebler were the most by an Aggie opponent all season.
85 – team points for Hawaii was the most by a USU opponent this year.
3,000 – student tickets were donated for the game.
8,976 – were in attendance Wednesday night.
Quotables
“We didn’t prove it tonight. So whoever wants to has the right to say that we didn’t deserve [a tournament bid] and I’m not going to argue with them.”- Spencer Nelson
-acf@cc.usu.edu