Morrill gets win No. 600 as Aggies cruise past Spartans
Utah State men’s basketball head coach Stew Morrill became the 14th active Division-1 coach to collect 600 career wins with a 75-58 win over San Jose State on Saturday.
“I really don’t know what to think about it,” Morrill said. “Once you’ve been around a long time and had some good teams and some great kids. I’m sure at one point I’ll reflect on it kind of like you do on a milestone birthday and I’m sure once I get a little bit of time I’ll reflect on it a little bit.”
The win was just the second road conference win of the season for the Aggies and took their overall conference record to 6-11 with only one game left in the season. The win also snaps a four-game losing streak for Utah State and clinches a winning season with 16 total wins.
“Definitely good to break that losing streak and get a good team win tonight,” Utah State senior guard Spencer Butterfield said.
Butterfield led all scorers in the game with 22 points, including going 6-8 from behind the arc and picking up seven rebounds.
Jarred Shaw also gave the Aggies support on the scoreboard collecting 19 points in the game. Shaw also collected his career-high in rebounds with 17.
“Jarred had a big night on the boards and that really helped us,” Morrill said.
As a team Utah State made nine three-pointers out of 20 attempted, with Butterfield netting six of them, while senior guard Preston Medlin had two and Tenale Roland had one.
San Jose State shot just 30.2 percent from the field in the game.
“I was really pleased with how intense we were and how well we guarded, especially along the three point line.” Morrill said.
Utah State will play its final game of the regular season in the Spectrum against Wyoming on Saturday. The Aggies will then go to Las Vegas for the conference tournament.
“I’ve always been impressed with teams that are having a tough season and are still fighting,” Morrill said. “I’ve always noticed those teams when we are having good years and the last two games we’ve been really fighting. Our guys haven’t been cashing in.”
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