Seniors say so long to Spectrum
Winners of eight straight games, the Utah State University men’s basketball team will hit the road for its final road trip of the season when the Aggies take the court against the University of the Pacific Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Spanos Center.
With a victory over the Tigers, USU (21-4, 13-3 in the Big West Conference) would clinch at least a tie with UC Irvine (13-4 in league play) for the regular season conference title.
“I do think our guys are in a real good frame of mind, and they think they are plenty capable of winning any game we might play right now,” Head Coach Stew Morrill said.
However, Morrill said he knows winning a road game at the Spanos Center will be one of the Aggies’ toughest tasks this season. UOP (17-9, 9-7 in league play) currently sports a 10-2 record at home, dropping a conference home game only to Long Beach State University.
In addition to the Pacific being difficult to beat at home, Morrill said the Tigers are more than ready to avenge an 81-71 loss to the Aggies Dec. 22 in the Spectrum.
“I think Pacific will be as ready [to play] as they’ve been for anybody all year long,” he said.
Although the Aggies have won the last six meetings with the Tigers, Morrill said USU’s rivalry with Pacific is one of the more intense rivalries in the Big West. Physical play has been a constant between the two teams, including a scuffle between Aggie Brennan Ray and several Tiger players last season.
Given the recent history between USU and UOP, Morrill said it is imperative the Aggies don’t back down from physical play.
“If we get out-physicaled, we have no chance to win,” he said. “Their post guys are really rugged. They knock the hell out of you [down low].”
While USU has won its last six games in the UOP series, only one of those victories was in the Spanos Center – a 62-51 victory last season. In that game, the Aggies were able to take control of the game in the latter part of the second half after being tied at 25-25 at the half.
“We had to play really well [to win that game],” Morrill said. “I remember turning to my assistants at halftime and saying, ‘I don’t know if we can play a whole lot better,’ and it was tied.”
With eight seniors on this season’s UOP squad, Morrill said he feels the Tigers have a good chance of winning 20 games and are a threat to win the conference tournament. Utah State has eliminated Pacific from the last two conference tournaments, including a 50-38 decision in the championship game last year.
In order to keep its winning streak intact against UOP, Morrill said USU needs to force the Tigers into playing an ugly game.
“Once in awhile we can make people play ugly, and hopefully we can do that on Thursday,” he said.
Point guard Demetrius Jackson leads the Tigers in scoring, averaging 12.8 points per game. USU shut down Jackson when the teams played in Logan, holding Jackson to five points on 1-of-5 shooting.
“Demetrius, I think, is streaky shooting the ball, but he’s scary streaky when he gets on a roll,” Morrill said.
Although Jackson paces the Tigers in scoring, Morrill said shooting guard Maurice McLemore has probably been the Tigers most consistent player. Both McLemore (11 ppg) and Jackson are capable of playing both guard positions, Morrill said.
In the first USU/UOP encounter this season, the Aggies were able to hold the perimeter shooters in check, holding them to a 6-for-19 clip from 3-point land. However, Morrill said the team struggled a little bit in the post, allowing Tiger center Mike Preston to score 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
“The bottom line is we need to defend both the post and the perimeter to win this game,” Morrill said.
For the Aggies, Desmond Penigar and Tony Brown continue to lead the team in scoring averaging 17.6 and 15.4 ppg, respectively.
Morrill said he was happy how fresh the team appears, even though it is the end of the season.
“We’re trying to stay fresh,” he said. “We came out with a lot of enthusiasm and energy [Monday in practice] which was encouraging for this time of year. Our guys are upbeat and excited about where we’re at.”