COLUMN: Props to the basketball teams for a great 2011-12 season
With the USU basketball season officially over for both the men and women, I look back with mixed emotions. I am thrilled that the men capped off a mediocre season with a postseason run, but heartbroken to see it end with defeat in the championship game.
I am thrilled the women had a historical season – on several different levels – but disappointed that they suffered an early exit in the postseason, especially amid an unfortunate altercation.
First and foremost, congratulations to both squads on good seasons. No matter how you look at this season, it is hard to look back with a negative mindset after all that these two teams accomplished.
There is a lot to reflect on this past season for Utah State.
The men showed heart and determination to bounce back from unexpected obstacles, while the women blitzed through conference play en route to a school-record 11 conference wins.
Both the men and women finished with 21 wins overall, but the path each team took to get there differed.
An emotional win over BYU generated high hopes among Aggie faithful. A tough loss to Weber State, followed by Brady Jardine’s career-ending injury, and the season took a turn for the worse.
The USU men went through quite a few ups and downs for the rest of the regular season. It would have been easy for the men to give up on a season that began with so much promise.
Almost the opposite applied to the women.
The season started with a few bumps, including a second-half meltdown against BYU, and the Aggies found themselves sitting with a 5-4 record. The rest of the season went off with just a couple of glitches, as USU went 15-3 the rest of the way en route to a school-record 20 regular season wins.
An emotional come-from-behind win in the first round of the WAC Tournament set up a date with the Lady Techsters – one of only two WAC opponents to beat the USU women during the regular season. A hard fought game ended with the Aggies rally falling short, and the women’s season finished with heartbreak.
The men didn’t fare any better in the WAC tournament. In fact, the tournament similarities between the men and women were plentiful. Both were defeated by Louisiana Tech, and both fell just shy of pulling off the improbable comeback by nearly identical scores.
The women trailed by 12 in the second half and had a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds before falling 73-69. The men trailed by 10 with four minutes to play and used an 11-3 run to finish the game. The Aggies weren’t able to get a final shot off at the buzzer and lost 72-70.
Factor in the way the WAC tournament ended, the total number of wins for each team, and the fact that both teams had a four-game winning streak at the end of the season, the number of similarities between the two teams is significant.
Come post-tournament time however, everything was different.
The women were invited to the National Invitational Tournament, and for the second time in as many years had their season ended by an in-state rival. Last season the Aggies lost to BYU. This season it was the University of Utah that got the better of them.
Meanwhile, the men were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and surprised a lot of people with four consecutive wins. Unfortunately, the Aggies came up just short in the title game.
Looking back at each team’s season, there are a handful of similarities as well as a number of differences. Two teams, two different seasons, but one major theme: A proud basketball tradition.
So again, congrats to both teams on finishing two great seasons. It’s a good era to be an Aggie sports fan.
– Curtis Lundstrom is a sophomore majoring in print journalism. His life ambition is to bowl a perfect game and officiate high school or college basketball.