Men’s basketball looks to rebound after tough road stretch
If there is one thing the USU’s men’s basketball has done well at this season, it has been mediocrity.
USU’s record reflects a mediocre season (10-10, 2-3 WAC) — which is the worst start by any team under USU head coach Stew Morrill — and with nine conference games and 11 games overall remaining in the regular season, Morrill would like to see his team do better than just average.
“What’s an interesting fact is that the home team wins 70 percent of college basketball games around the country,” Morrill said. “And when you look at us having four games on the road and we won one, I guess that would be the average — close to it.
“And that’s about where we’re at, when you’re 10-10, 2-3 in league, you have to say at this point you have been an average basketball team. What we’ve got to try and do is become better than average.”
Although Morrill was extremely vocal about his frustration during USU’s 57-54 loss to the Idaho Vandals on Saturday — a loss which capped a 1-3 road trip — he clarified that every loss is a team loss, during a press conference Tuesday.
“When I look at the Idaho game, we — and I stress we — didn’t make some plays,” he said. “But it’s always about we when we win or lose. It’s not about a particular player or players. I thought we made some coaching errors, and you always feel that way when things don’t go right.”
USU has been markedly better at home with a 8-2 record, but the Aggies are not invincible at home. They fell to the senior-laden squad of future Western Athletic Conference opponent Denver University and struggled against the pure athleticism of Nevada.
USU now faces Hawaii (11-8, 3-2 WAC), a team that defeated New Mexico State at home this past week (91-87) and holds just as much talent as the New Mexico State team it defeated.
“Hawaii is like playing New Mexico State or playing Nevada — they have that kind of size and talent,” Morrill said. “They have a premier shooter in Zane Johnson, they are huge inside with their four and five. They are strong and talented, and they’re playing well defensively.”
Hawaii is not extremely road tested, as it has ventured off the Islands five times this season. The Warriors are 1-3 in true road games and 0-1 in games played at a neutral location.
A trio of Warriors currently lead Hawaii in double-figure scoring. Johnson is averaging 15.8 points per game, and Vander Joaquim and Joston Thomas are averaging just over 13 points per game on the season. Those three players stepped up the scoring when conference play began and are currently averaging 18 points per outing.
USU had a difficult time containing Johnson last season, and the Aggies will be focusing on him.
“He had 24 and 25 points against us, I think, last year. He’s obviously hard to guard,” Morrill said. “I mean, we were the best defensive team in the league last year and we had a really tough time with him. All you have to do is look at last weekend. He doesn’t play one night — him and Jeremiah Ostrowski — and they lose to Louisiana Tech. And then he has 29 points when he does play after having the flu. He is definitely an all-league guy.”
USU plays the next seven of nine games at home, with a chance to capitalize on home-court advantage.
“We’re vulnerable, that is for sure, and we’ve got to fight,” Morrill said. “You can give in, and we’ve done that a few times this year, but we cannot afford to give in, in this stretch of games, and it starts Thursday night. We’ve got to fight. To have a chance, we’ve got to fight. It doesn’t mean you’re going to win, but it gives you a chance.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu