Aggie men limp home to prep for LTU, five straight home games
After six of the past eight games on the road, the USU men’s basketball team hosts five consecutive home games.
USU suffered difficult back-to-back losses during its past road trip and looks to rebound down the stretch of its Western Athletic Conference schedule.
“One of the key things for this week is going to be trying to get our spirits up and trying to realize we have an opportunity in front of us with five-straight home games,” USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “We’re coming off a disappointing road trip where we were in both games, had a chance to win both games and didn’t win either of them. That can be very disheartening to all involved, when you are putting in the amount time and energy that you do into a basketball season, as players and coaches.”
A last-second circus 3-pointer from sophomore guard Deonte Burton sunk USU’s upset bid at Reno, Nev., and the Aggies never led against Fresno State in their 60-54 loss.
“The best thing we can do is try and get our spirits up and try and get ourselves prepared for two tough opponents coming in, and we’ll see if we can do that,” Morril said.
The Aggies face Louisana Tech on Thursday — the only WAC opponent USU has defeated on the road this season — and grinding out a win won’t be an easy task.
Tipoff against the Bulldogs is slated for 7 p.m.
“Watching Louisiana Tech, they just create havoc with their style of play,” Morrill said. “They double you and press you and cause you all kinds of problems when you are trying to execute offense against an unconventional defense at times.”
After beginning the season 0-3, the Bulldogs have notched three straight wins — Hawaii, San Jose State, Fresno State — and suffered close losses to Nevada and New Mexico State on the road.
Freshman Raheem Appleby leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 14.2 points per game, while senior Trevor Gaskins and sophomore Codarius Johnson are averaging just over 10 points per game.
“Louisiana Tech just keeps coming at you with guards, tough matchups and quickness,” Morrill said. “Trevor Gaskins is one of those guys. Raheem Appleby had 30 points against New Mexico State. He is a freshman, and he’s going to be special if he isn’t already special. Kenyon McNeail hurt us down there — had a really good game against us. They just have a lot of interchangeable parts with the way they’re playing.”
One stat USU will need to improve against both Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State is turnovers — especially late in close games.
“Pressure from the defense, pressure when the game is on the line, pressure is the word I would use,” Morrill said. “How do you handle pressure? We haven’t handled it very well, and we’ve got to do a better job. We’ll be in some more close games, so hopefully we can turn it around — lots of games left.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu