Aggies prepare for Weber State
The Utah State Aggies will have their first real test when they tip off the regular season against in-state foe Weber State tomorrow night. The Aggies will be looking to extend their 21-game home winning streak against in-state opponents along with their 15-game regular season winning streak. The Aggies will have their hands full with the Wildcats, who just like the Aggies, were picked to win their conference, the Big Sky. The Wildcats also have the preseason player of the year in junior guard Damian Lillard, who is a projected NBA first round draft pick.
“Weber is a good basketball team,” head coach Stew Morrill said. “They are very athletic. They have one of the best players in the state.”
As a sophomore, Lillard averaged nearly 20 points per game and scored at least 20 points in both contests in against USU last season. When the Wildcats visited the Spectrum for the Basketball Travelers Invitational last year, the Aggies limited Lillard to seven points in the first half, but Lillard went on to score 17 points in the second half.
“He’s just a really good guard,” Morrill said. “He can get on a roll and shoot the basketball no matter what.” Lillard average 25 points per game during the Wildcats’ exhibition games, and the difficult task of guarding Lillard will fall on the shoulders of senior guard Pooh Williams, who was named to the WAC all-defensive team last season, and junior guard Brockeith Pane, who has yet to prove he can defend premier players. Pane said he is up to the task regardless of who he is playing against.
“I’m just going to go out there and play,” Pane said. “I don’t care about them being projected. I’m just going to go out there and give it my all.”
Much of Morrill’s respect stems from the fact that WSU head coach Randy Rahe was once Morrill’s assistant.
“He does a great job of running that program,” Morrill said. “He does a lot of things well.”
The Wildcats do have a slight height advantage on the Aggies and that theme may continue with 6’9″ senior forward Nate Bendall’s status in question.
“Don’t know,” Morrill said of Bendall’s status. “Don’t know that anybody knows. It’s not like a normal injury. There is no guarantee that rest will make it better. He practices and participates with the team. I would rather have him some than none, and we’ll have to see.”
Much remains to be seen for the Aggies, who have very high expectations this season. Morrill said he will always be satisfied with outcome as long as his team plays hard.
“All we can do is the best we can do,” Morrill said. “If we come out, practice hard and do our best, we can live with the results.”
Tip-off against the Wildcats is slated for 7:05 p.m. tomorrow at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
-ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu