Aggies prepare for in-state bout with Southern Utah
The Utah State men’s basketball team started off its season strong in front of a jubilant home crowd with a 78-65 win over USC.
“That was a good start for us. It’s a good way to open the season with a great team coming in from a high-powered league,” said USU head coach Stew Morrill.
This marks the sixth straight year the Aggies began their season with a win.
Unfortunately for USU, over the last four seasons, they’ve lost the following game. The Aggies will look to avoid the 1-1 start this season though when they take on Southern Utah University on Tuesday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
SUU ended last season with an 11-20 record and is coming off a win at home in its season opener against Arizona Christian.
The Thunderbirds return their starters at big men from last season. Jayson Cheesmen started 30 games at center for SUU last season and led the team with 60 blocks.
Jaren Jeffrey starts at power forward, as he did last year when he started 29 games. The two are captains of the team along with junior guard Chris Nsenki, who is on his third season as a letterwinner.
In their opening game, sophomore guard A.J. Hess led the team in points with 17, followed by Cheesmen, who had 12. There were three other players with double digits in points.
Freshman guard Trey Kennedy had 11 and Cal Hanks and Juwan Major had 10 and 12 points off the bench, respectively. No other player had double digits of any other statistical category for the Thunderbirds.
The Aggies had four players with double digits in points, headlined by Preston Medlin’s 17. Jarred Shaw, Kyle Davis and Spencer Butterfield were the other three with more than 10 points.
However, all nine players to get into the game for the Aggies found their way on to the scoreboard.
SUU’s head coach Nick Robinson is entering his second season with the Thunderbirds. He led the team to sixth-place in the Big Sky Conference in his first season. Robinson said their returning players are the strong point of the team.
“Our six returners bring needed experience as well as leadership to our team,” he said. “We have three perimeter players and three big men, and we’ll rely on them to continue the culture we established last year.”
Other than the six returning letterwinners, there are six more scholarship players and three walk-ons who are new to the team. Of those nine newcomers, Kennedy is the only one who starts.
SUU is one of three in-state opponents the Aggies face this season. The other two games will be against Weber State on Nov. 26 in Ogden and BYU Nov. 30 at Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City.
After the Aggies and Thunderbirds square off tonight, one team will remain undefeated and one will have a .500 record. The Aggies will look to advance to 2-0 for the first time in five years.
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