Men’s basketball to face Idaho State in opener
With the opening tipoff Saturday in the Spectrum, the Utah State men’s basketball team will begin the 2012-13 regular season. Coaches and players are preparing for the matchup against the Idaho State Bengals.
“Just come out, play really hard, give the fans a good game and hope we win,” said senior forward Kyisean Reed.
With multiple newcomers on the team and preseason practices coming to a close, coaches are hoping practice really does make perfect come game time.
“We’re looking to see if we can transfer what we do in practice every day to a real game situation,” said assistant coach Tarvish Felton.
Felton said while the Aggies are working on being ready for Idaho State, they are taking a lot of time looking at themselves too.
“It’s early in the season, so we’re focused a lot on ourselves,” he said. “But the way we play and prepare, our philosophy is to not let the other team be able to do what they want to do, so you have to focus on what they’re doing.”
“It’s always good to get the first one out of the way,” Reed said. “It’s going to show us where we’re at, offensively and defensively as a team.”
Reed said he is trying to set more of a vocal tone as a leader in preparing his team for the season.
“The more I talk, the more I get them to go, the easier it will be for them,” he said.
The Aggies will play a Bengals team looking to improve off of last year’s efforts. Idaho State returns two starters from last year’s squad that finished 9-21 overall and 7-9 in Big Sky Conference play. Felton said stopping guard play will be key for Utah State.
“We’ve got to get to their shooters,” he said. “They’ve got a couple guys that through their two exhibition games that have been hot shooting the ball for them, Chris Hansen and Melvin Morgan.”
Hansen scored 17 and 23 points in two exhibition games and is new to the team, while Morgan, a senior, poured on 20 points from the outside in both games.
“They play a lot of zone, so we’ve got to get ready for zone plays and the press,” said junior guard TeNale Roland.
After two exhibition games, Roland said he is ready to take the court for his first regular season game as an Aggie.
“I’m looking for a nice scene here,” he said. “The fans come out every game and I’m looking forward to playing in front of them for the first game of the season.”
Roland said after watching film, he sees a few things he wants to improve on for Saturday such as free throws and involving all of his teammates more.
“I want to play a little harder,” he said. “Being the point guard, being the smallest guy on the court, I need to pick up my intensity a little more.”
Felton said he’s not sure what the team strengths will be.
“It’s a brand new team,” he said. “One exhibition game I thought we played pretty well offensively, the other we played pretty well defensively. It’s what we decide how we’re going to play.”
Utah State won last year’s meeting in Pocatello, Idaho, 75-62 and haven’t lost to Idaho State since 1981.
Tip off is set for Saturday at 7:05 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
– m.hop@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @legendarymhops