This is it.
No matter the outcome tonight, the Aggie men?s basketball season will come to an end at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
?This is the last game of the season, everybody knows that on both sides,? Utah State guard Preston Medlin said. ?There is no more after this. The seniors know that this is their last game of their career. We?ll be ready to play.?
The Aggies host Mercer University in the CollegeInsider Postseason Tournament championship.
?It?s good to still be playing and it?s a little odd to still be playing in some respects,? USU head coach Stew Morrill said. ?Hard to believe this is the week of the Final Four as I said the other night. We?re excited that we have extended our season.?
For a pair of Aggie seniors, this really is it. Point guard Brockeith Pane and forward Morgan Grim will be suiting up for USU (21-15) for the final time.
?I?ve thought about it, but I don?t know if it has hit me yet,? Grim said. ?We?ll see tomorrow ... as long as we make it a good celebration at the end. I?m happy to go out on that. It would be awesome.?
The Aggies certainly come into the CIT title game on a roll. They have averaged 83.2 points in four CIT games, while shooting 50.9 percent from the field. USU is allowing 69.8 points a game during the tournament, while opponents are shooting 39.3 percent.
In Sunday?s semifinal game, the Aggies blew by Oakland 105-81. They shot 63.8 percent.
?We?ve been playing good lately,? said Medlin, who ranks 12th in the nation in 3-point shooting at 43.5 percent. ?Coach Morrill has been telling us we need to come out, play relaxed and play like we?ve been playing with a lot of energy, and we will be fine.?
Grim agreed with Medlin in how the Aggies have loosened up of late. He said the team is enjoying practice and games, which has translated into wins. Perhaps the pressure of expectations got to this team before the CIT run.
?There is always pressure, got to win the conference, got to win the (WAC) tournament, got to be an NCAA Tournament team, got to be a postseason team,? Grim said. ?We didn?t even know if we were going to be a postseason team. It turns out we?re going to be one of the record-book Aggies. We just came through as another Aggie team. ... When we let go of that whole pressure of being an Aggie team, we turned out to be an Aggie team.?
USU has never won a postseason tournament. The Aggies reached the regional final of the NCAA Tournament in 1970, before losing to eventual champion UCLA. In 1960, USU reached the semifinals of the NIT, losing to Providence.
While the Aggies try to make history with their first postseason tournament championship, the visiting Bears (26-11) also have the same goal. Located in Macon, Ga., Mercer has made the NCAA Tournament twice in school history, with the last time coming in 1985. This is the first postseason action for the Bears since then. The university is having a viewing party back on the Georgia campus to watch the game.
?Obviously I?m very impressed with Mercer,? Morrill said. ?They?ve won 26 games, they?re big and skilled and come in here having won a couple of road games in this tournament. We know that we have got our hands full.?
The Bears opened the CIT with home wins over Tennessee State (68-60) and Georgia State (64-59). In the last two contests, they went on the road, winning at Old Dominion (79-73) and Fairfield (64-59).
Mercer finished second in the Atlantic Sun Conference, dropping two close games to league champion Belmont.
?You look at their field goal percentage defense and watch them on film and you know they?re very sound,? Morrill said of the Bears. ?I would use that term on both ends of the floor. They run a lot of very good offense, and they?re very sound defensively.?
Offensively, the Bears are well balanced. Six players average between 8.2 and 11.3 points per game. Mercer has used the same starting lineup in 36 of its 37 games this season.
?They?re extremely balanced, like some of the teams that we?ve had in the past,? Morrill said. ?They?ve got a variety of different guys who can score the ball and they utilize their personnel really well. They can throw it inside, they set a variety of ball screens and they will back door you. They just have a good system. It?s impressive to watch their system function in the game tapes we have.?
Mercer also has size, an area this USU team is lacking somewhat. Bears point guard Langston Hall is 6-foot-4, while a pair of 6-11 players patrol the paint.
?This is going to be a tough game, but we?ll be ready,? Medlin said.
--hjnews.com
No matter the outcome tonight, the Aggie men?s basketball season will come to an end at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
?This is the last game of the season, everybody knows that on both sides,? Utah State guard Preston Medlin said. ?There is no more after this. The seniors know that this is their last game of their career. We?ll be ready to play.?
The Aggies host Mercer University in the CollegeInsider Postseason Tournament championship.
?It?s good to still be playing and it?s a little odd to still be playing in some respects,? USU head coach Stew Morrill said. ?Hard to believe this is the week of the Final Four as I said the other night. We?re excited that we have extended our season.?
For a pair of Aggie seniors, this really is it. Point guard Brockeith Pane and forward Morgan Grim will be suiting up for USU (21-15) for the final time.
?I?ve thought about it, but I don?t know if it has hit me yet,? Grim said. ?We?ll see tomorrow ... as long as we make it a good celebration at the end. I?m happy to go out on that. It would be awesome.?
The Aggies certainly come into the CIT title game on a roll. They have averaged 83.2 points in four CIT games, while shooting 50.9 percent from the field. USU is allowing 69.8 points a game during the tournament, while opponents are shooting 39.3 percent.
In Sunday?s semifinal game, the Aggies blew by Oakland 105-81. They shot 63.8 percent.
?We?ve been playing good lately,? said Medlin, who ranks 12th in the nation in 3-point shooting at 43.5 percent. ?Coach Morrill has been telling us we need to come out, play relaxed and play like we?ve been playing with a lot of energy, and we will be fine.?
Grim agreed with Medlin in how the Aggies have loosened up of late. He said the team is enjoying practice and games, which has translated into wins. Perhaps the pressure of expectations got to this team before the CIT run.
?There is always pressure, got to win the conference, got to win the (WAC) tournament, got to be an NCAA Tournament team, got to be a postseason team,? Grim said. ?We didn?t even know if we were going to be a postseason team. It turns out we?re going to be one of the record-book Aggies. We just came through as another Aggie team. ... When we let go of that whole pressure of being an Aggie team, we turned out to be an Aggie team.?
USU has never won a postseason tournament. The Aggies reached the regional final of the NCAA Tournament in 1970, before losing to eventual champion UCLA. In 1960, USU reached the semifinals of the NIT, losing to Providence.
While the Aggies try to make history with their first postseason tournament championship, the visiting Bears (26-11) also have the same goal. Located in Macon, Ga., Mercer has made the NCAA Tournament twice in school history, with the last time coming in 1985. This is the first postseason action for the Bears since then. The university is having a viewing party back on the Georgia campus to watch the game.
?Obviously I?m very impressed with Mercer,? Morrill said. ?They?ve won 26 games, they?re big and skilled and come in here having won a couple of road games in this tournament. We know that we have got our hands full.?
The Bears opened the CIT with home wins over Tennessee State (68-60) and Georgia State (64-59). In the last two contests, they went on the road, winning at Old Dominion (79-73) and Fairfield (64-59).
Mercer finished second in the Atlantic Sun Conference, dropping two close games to league champion Belmont.
?You look at their field goal percentage defense and watch them on film and you know they?re very sound,? Morrill said of the Bears. ?I would use that term on both ends of the floor. They run a lot of very good offense, and they?re very sound defensively.?
Offensively, the Bears are well balanced. Six players average between 8.2 and 11.3 points per game. Mercer has used the same starting lineup in 36 of its 37 games this season.
?They?re extremely balanced, like some of the teams that we?ve had in the past,? Morrill said. ?They?ve got a variety of different guys who can score the ball and they utilize their personnel really well. They can throw it inside, they set a variety of ball screens and they will back door you. They just have a good system. It?s impressive to watch their system function in the game tapes we have.?
Mercer also has size, an area this USU team is lacking somewhat. Bears point guard Langston Hall is 6-foot-4, while a pair of 6-11 players patrol the paint.
?This is going to be a tough game, but we?ll be ready,? Medlin said.
--hjnews.com
