Ags will put their streak(s) to the test in Idaho
It’s not even mid-February and USU has already completed its 10th consecutive season with at least 23 wins. The Aggies hold the nation’s longest current winning streak at 18 games, and have climbed all the way to No. 17 in the latest coaches poll.
And how precarious that perch is.
As long as the Aggies keep up their winning ways they’ll continue to move up in the polls and garner national attention, but a single slip-up by the Ags could knock them out of the national spotlight and back into relative obscurity. USU will face a tough task this week in keeping those streaks alive.
After adding two more games onto that winning streak in the friendly confines of the Spectrum, the Ags now must hit the road for three of their next four games. Two of those games will come this week when the Aggies visit the Gem State to take on upstart Idaho and second-place Boise State.
“(It will be) a big challenge going into Idaho with kind of a rejuvenated program and a bigger fan base,” said USU head coach Stew Morrill. “Both games are a real challenge. Our guys are doing a good job, but I think they’re well aware that you’re only as good as the game coming up and how you play.”
The Aggies will meet the Vandals Thursday night. Though Idaho is only 10-12 on the season and 4-5 in conference play, they are 8-2 on their home floor with their only losses coming against Washington State and Nevada.
“Don Verlin is doing a great job and they’re a very competitive team every night out,” Morrill said. “And they are especially, like a lot of us, very good at home.”
Despite the new attitude Verlin has brought with him to Idaho, not to mention a very in-depth knowledge of Utah State, the former Morrill assistant knows that beating the Ags will be no easy task.
“We all know how good Utah State is, being ranked in the Top 25 and 11-0 in conference,” he said. “(They’re) a very good basketball team, very well coached, very skilled and don’t make a lot of mistakes – right now the class of our conference.”
Idaho will be looking to get back on the winning track as they have dropped two straight games – the Vandals haven’t lost three games in row all season.
Much like Idaho, Boise State has also been stellar at home this year, going 11-1 at Taco Bell Arena. The Broncos last home loss came at the hands of San Francisco two months ago.
Boise State had won four of its last five games before falling on the road at Fresno State Monday night. At 16-7, 6-4 in WAC play, the Broncos are tied with Nevada for second place in the WAC – four and half games behind the Aggies.
“They’re very sound defensively and as always they’re shooting the ball very well,” said Broncos head coach Greg Graham of the Aggies. “The last couple games they’ve shot the ball better from the outside, and when those guards can make 3’s at the percentages they did the last game or two with those big guys inside, they’re very, very tough to beat.”
Last season the Aggies used a sweep on this road trip to propel themselves into a tie for the WAC regular season crown. This road trip will again have regular season WAC title implications – a win Thursday would assure the Aggies at least a tie of the conference title, and a sweep would secure the title outright as well as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming WAC tournament.
As always though, Morrill is keeping his crew grounded.
“We won’t talk about what if … we know going on the road you could more easily lose both then win both, that’s the nature of the road,” he said. “That’s not something that’s hard, I don’t think, for us, because that’s what we do. Every ballgame we don’t look too much down the road.”
One other streak will be on the line this week. The Aggies are 9-0 on the road this season – just another category they’re leading the nation in.
–t.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu