COLUMN: Section F
It seems like there’s no two ways about it right now. The Aggies are in a slump. While neither of the two losses in the last three games were against bad teams, they were still games that I can’t help but think that the Aggies of three weeks ago would have won.
Maybe though, this was a necessary reality check for everyone. I was starting to believe this team was invincible, and for good reason, I might add, but maybe it is best that everyone in Aggie nation get reminded that there is still plenty of work to do. Gary Wilkinson and Tai Wesley are still going to have to carve up defenders in the post, the team’s defensive intensity will have to stay at a high level and even the Spectrum crowd will have to bring the pain on opposing teams for the show to roll on at the same high level it has for most of this basketball season. That’s what got USU to 24-1, and that is what USU will need to win out the rest of the regular season.
Back to the slump though. Slumps happen. They’re pretty much an inevitability in sports. When the slumps happen is maybe the most important factor, though. I’d very much rather see USU hit a slump right now than in two weeks when the Western Athletic Conference holds its conference tournament in Reno, Nev.
There’s some good and there’s some bad to this slump. I’ll start with the bad.
Over the last three games, the trio of Wilkinson, Wesley and Tyler Newbold have combined to score just 23.6 points per game. On the season, those three have usually combined to score 38 points per game. On top of that, the trio is shooting a combined 39.1 percent from the field in the past three games compared to the 55 percent that they have combined to shoot on the season.
Now on to the good news. Jared Quayle, Pooh Williams, Jaxon Myaer and Brady Jardine are combining for 8.8 points above their collective points per game average over the last three games. While it doesn’t make up the difference in the missing scoring from Wesley, Wilkinson and Newbold, it does lend credit that other guys are plenty capable of stepping up to contribute if they are needed. If nothing else, it is quality experience for guys who will be greatly needed if the Aggies are going to win three straight games in Reno this March.
Also let’s not forget that neither the Boise State or Saint Mary’s losses are necessarily bad ones, either. Believe it or not, USU’s RPI rating has actually gone up in the past two weeks despite the losses.
Now to the brighter side of things. Right around this same time a year ago the Aggies found themselves in a similar slump and on a very rare three-game losing streak just after they had won 13 of their previous 14 games. The Aggies returned home to the Spectrum from the road losses, got their composure back and finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak. That streak included the road victory against Boise State to jump into the top seed for last year’s WAC Tournament.
Although the top seed in this year’s WAC Tournament is wrapped up for Utah State, the prospect of a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is still on the line should the Aggies come up short in the WAC Tournament. If history is going to repeat itself, the Aggies should be primed to once again show what they’re made of down this season’s stretch run with a crucial road win at Nevada this Saturday.
As for Wilkinson, Wesley and Newbold, I’m not too worried. Anybody who truly believes that they won’t bounce back, and bounce back strong, is setting their self up for a letdown. Either way it is comforting to know that despite a slump, the Aggies have been such a dominant force this season that they just need to win one more game for their first outright WAC championship since joining the conference in 2005. Two of the final three games are at home. I dare say we’ve got this in the bag.