For the last month, Utah State basketball coach Stew Morrill has been answering questions he's seldom been asked during his tenure with the Aggies.
In five of his six seasons, his teams have been above .500 on the road. Only once ? in 1998-99 (his first year) ? have the Aggies finished with a losing record on the road (2-9).
So far this year, the Aggies are just 1-4 away from the Smith Spectrum ? 0-3 in Big West Conference games ? and they open up the first of four straight road conference games tonight at 8 p.m. against UC Irvine.
"Obviously, this is an important stretch for our team. I actually think our players are looking forward to having an opportunity to win on the road again," Morrill said. "Obviously, we've had some troubles, and we've had chances in every road game we've played. We've just got to get over the hump and find a way to win going down the stretch."
Following tonight's game, the Aggies travel to Long Beach on Saturday before returning the following week to play at Cal Poly and Santa Barbara.
"Hopefully we'll have some energy as we go through this stretch," Morrill said. "We'll do everything we can to try and keep them fresh in terms of their minds and bodies during this two-week stretch."
Last year, the Aggies were 10-2 on the road and 8-1 in league play. Their losses were to Utah and Pacific.
The plague of losing on the road isn't isolated to just Utah State. Three teams ? Riverside (0-8), Cal Poly (0-7) and Long Beach (0-10) ? have yet to win a game away from home, while Idaho, Utah State and Santa Barbara have won just one road game. League-leading Pacific (8-1) and Northridge (4-4) are the only two teams in the league with .500 or better road records. Pacific's lone road loss was at Kansas.
UC Irvine, however, is 4-2 at home this year, so the Aggies will have their hands full with the Anteaters.
"We've had some unbelievable games with them. They've won a couple of times here and we've won a couple of games there, and the games are always physical," Morrill said.
"The new guys better understand that it's been a pretty good rivalry, and I think they still view it that way, and I know our veteran players know it is."
Just last year, Irvine's Ross Schraeder came of the bench and scored a game-high 20 points as the Anteaters fell to the then-No. 23 Aggies, 59-56.
In all, Utah State is 28-26 in the all-time series with UC Irvine. Utah State, however, is 10-13 all-time at UC Irvine.
"They're hard to play, they guard you, they run good stuff, they're aggressive, they're physical and they're explosive," Morrill said.
Guards Aaron Fitzgerald (14.0 points, 5.9 assist) and Schraeder (13.6, 2.9 rebounds) lead the team in scoring, while center Greg Ethington (12.3, 6.4) also scores in double figures.
"They are very physical defensively and they run a lot of really good action with a three-guard lineup," Morrill said. "They are playing faster offensively then their teams have traditionally played."
Freshman Jaycee Carroll continues to lead the Aggies in scoring at 15.7 points a game. He sprained his ankle against Fullerton last week, but still scored 24 points.
Spencer Nelson averages 15.1 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds, while Nate Harris, who is third in the nation in field-goal percentage, averages 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Jason Williams, who got his first start of the year against Riverside last Saturday, is now averaging 4.1 points and 1.8 rebounds.
In five of his six seasons, his teams have been above .500 on the road. Only once ? in 1998-99 (his first year) ? have the Aggies finished with a losing record on the road (2-9).
So far this year, the Aggies are just 1-4 away from the Smith Spectrum ? 0-3 in Big West Conference games ? and they open up the first of four straight road conference games tonight at 8 p.m. against UC Irvine.
"Obviously, this is an important stretch for our team. I actually think our players are looking forward to having an opportunity to win on the road again," Morrill said. "Obviously, we've had some troubles, and we've had chances in every road game we've played. We've just got to get over the hump and find a way to win going down the stretch."
Following tonight's game, the Aggies travel to Long Beach on Saturday before returning the following week to play at Cal Poly and Santa Barbara.
"Hopefully we'll have some energy as we go through this stretch," Morrill said. "We'll do everything we can to try and keep them fresh in terms of their minds and bodies during this two-week stretch."
Last year, the Aggies were 10-2 on the road and 8-1 in league play. Their losses were to Utah and Pacific.
The plague of losing on the road isn't isolated to just Utah State. Three teams ? Riverside (0-8), Cal Poly (0-7) and Long Beach (0-10) ? have yet to win a game away from home, while Idaho, Utah State and Santa Barbara have won just one road game. League-leading Pacific (8-1) and Northridge (4-4) are the only two teams in the league with .500 or better road records. Pacific's lone road loss was at Kansas.
UC Irvine, however, is 4-2 at home this year, so the Aggies will have their hands full with the Anteaters.
"We've had some unbelievable games with them. They've won a couple of times here and we've won a couple of games there, and the games are always physical," Morrill said.
"The new guys better understand that it's been a pretty good rivalry, and I think they still view it that way, and I know our veteran players know it is."
Just last year, Irvine's Ross Schraeder came of the bench and scored a game-high 20 points as the Anteaters fell to the then-No. 23 Aggies, 59-56.
In all, Utah State is 28-26 in the all-time series with UC Irvine. Utah State, however, is 10-13 all-time at UC Irvine.
"They're hard to play, they guard you, they run good stuff, they're aggressive, they're physical and they're explosive," Morrill said.
Guards Aaron Fitzgerald (14.0 points, 5.9 assist) and Schraeder (13.6, 2.9 rebounds) lead the team in scoring, while center Greg Ethington (12.3, 6.4) also scores in double figures.
"They are very physical defensively and they run a lot of really good action with a three-guard lineup," Morrill said. "They are playing faster offensively then their teams have traditionally played."
Freshman Jaycee Carroll continues to lead the Aggies in scoring at 15.7 points a game. He sprained his ankle against Fullerton last week, but still scored 24 points.
Spencer Nelson averages 15.1 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds, while Nate Harris, who is third in the nation in field-goal percentage, averages 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Jason Williams, who got his first start of the year against Riverside last Saturday, is now averaging 4.1 points and 1.8 rebounds.
