Losing is no fun.
It?s been three weeks since the Aggie men?s basketball team left the court with smiles. Utah State would like to change that tonight.
The Aggies will be trying to end a five-game losing streak ? the longest since 1993 ? this evening when Nevada visits the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Tip-off is set for 7:05.
?The second half of league we?ve got five home games and four road games,? USU head coach Stew Morrill said Tuesday during a press conference. ?We still have a lot of tough teams. Our goal is to certainly do better than we did in the first half.?
That would mean bettering a 2-7 mark in Mountain West Conference play. The Aggies (12-9, 2-7) are currently tied with Fresno State for ninth in the 11-team league.
USU is coming off a disappointing 74-57 road loss at Wyoming last Saturday. Nevada (12-10, 7-2) comes to Logan having won two in a row, including a 69-56 overtime win at home against Air Force last Saturday.
?The second half of league is starting,? Morrill said. ?It?s a chance to get yourself going and be excited about a couple of home games coming up. Anytime you?re in the midst of a losing streak, your energy and your attitude are important. We?re telling the team not to give in, not to lose confidence, the kind of things that can happen.
?The things we?ve had in Aggie basketball for a long time are guys that play hard and guys that execute. We?re emphasizing playing hard and executing. If we do those things, you can live with the results.?
Morrill said there have been a few games where athletes have simply just not played hard enough. That has been brought to their attention and there has been a good response, the coach said. The Aggies had a good practice on Monday, Morrill said.
?The only way we have a chance to win in this league is to go out and compete and play a little better than we?ve been playing,? Morrill said. ?It?s not like we have to completely revamp the whole deal. We?re, at times, very close to having success. We have to do a little better. That?s the emphasis in practice.?
There were some lineup switches at Wyoming as Preston Medlin moved to point guard, and Jalen Moore started at the three. Freshman JoJo McGlaston started the second half at the two.
?We got beat by 17, we shot 40 percent, and (the Cowboys) shot 55 percent, so no, I didn?t really like what we tried,? Morrill said. ?We needed to experiment. The guys that have had the most production in league got out there to start the game, but it?s not what I would call a successful experiment. We?ll go more traditional and back with our normal point guards this week.?
Marcel Davis had started 11 of the last 12 games at the point before not seeing any action the last two contests. TeNale Roland has started nine games as the Aggie point guard. Freshman Viko Noma?aea has seen action in nine games this year.
?We have three options at the point,? said Morrill, who did not elaborate on who would start or if all three would play tonight.
Following the setback at Wyoming last Saturday, Morrill said his team was lacking confidence. He was asked on Tuesday how they could regain some confidence for the second half of league play.
?They have to get their own confidence back,? Morrill answered. ?I can tell them the things I believe about guys being good players and remind them of the good games they?ve had, but I don?t have a big syringe that I can inject confidence. The best way they can do it is to go win a game. You need a little confidence to get that done, but if we can, that will help everybody. Nothing like winning to cure some things.?
But like they have figured out already, every game in the MW is a battle. There are no easy wins, and the Wolf Pack will certainly come to Logan with confidence.
Nevada beat USU 62-54 in the first meeting this season. A horrible start to the second half was the Aggies? undoing. Jarred Shaw was the lone USU player to reach double figures in scoring with a game-best 19 points.
After an up-and-down start to the season by the Wolf Pack, they have played a lot better since league play began and sit in third place in the standings. Four Nevada players average double digits in the scoring department.
?(Deonte) Burton is the star, the guy who makes it all go,? Morrill said of the Wolf Pack. ?The key for them after struggling a little bit in the preseason, they got (AJ) West eligible. That helped them get over the hump. ... They?re playing really well, they?ve got lots of weapons, and that?s why they?re 7-2.
?... You can?t just focus on Burton, that?s for sure. You have to defend everybody. He gets them going on the break. ... They?ve got some solid guys off the bench, but their starters are playing a lot of minutes. They?re the ones who are primarily getting it done for them.?
Certainly being back at the Spectrum will help the Aggies. However, they have dropped three at home, including their last two.
?It certainly helps us when our crowd is into the game and trying to figure out a way to get us over the top, but we have to play good basketball,? Morrill said. ?You?re not just going to show up and win because you?re at home. Certainly it will help get our confidence back which will help, then you have the opportunity to play well which gives you an opportunity to win.?
It?s been three weeks since the Aggie men?s basketball team left the court with smiles. Utah State would like to change that tonight.
The Aggies will be trying to end a five-game losing streak ? the longest since 1993 ? this evening when Nevada visits the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Tip-off is set for 7:05.
?The second half of league we?ve got five home games and four road games,? USU head coach Stew Morrill said Tuesday during a press conference. ?We still have a lot of tough teams. Our goal is to certainly do better than we did in the first half.?
That would mean bettering a 2-7 mark in Mountain West Conference play. The Aggies (12-9, 2-7) are currently tied with Fresno State for ninth in the 11-team league.
USU is coming off a disappointing 74-57 road loss at Wyoming last Saturday. Nevada (12-10, 7-2) comes to Logan having won two in a row, including a 69-56 overtime win at home against Air Force last Saturday.
?The second half of league is starting,? Morrill said. ?It?s a chance to get yourself going and be excited about a couple of home games coming up. Anytime you?re in the midst of a losing streak, your energy and your attitude are important. We?re telling the team not to give in, not to lose confidence, the kind of things that can happen.
?The things we?ve had in Aggie basketball for a long time are guys that play hard and guys that execute. We?re emphasizing playing hard and executing. If we do those things, you can live with the results.?
Morrill said there have been a few games where athletes have simply just not played hard enough. That has been brought to their attention and there has been a good response, the coach said. The Aggies had a good practice on Monday, Morrill said.
?The only way we have a chance to win in this league is to go out and compete and play a little better than we?ve been playing,? Morrill said. ?It?s not like we have to completely revamp the whole deal. We?re, at times, very close to having success. We have to do a little better. That?s the emphasis in practice.?
There were some lineup switches at Wyoming as Preston Medlin moved to point guard, and Jalen Moore started at the three. Freshman JoJo McGlaston started the second half at the two.
?We got beat by 17, we shot 40 percent, and (the Cowboys) shot 55 percent, so no, I didn?t really like what we tried,? Morrill said. ?We needed to experiment. The guys that have had the most production in league got out there to start the game, but it?s not what I would call a successful experiment. We?ll go more traditional and back with our normal point guards this week.?
Marcel Davis had started 11 of the last 12 games at the point before not seeing any action the last two contests. TeNale Roland has started nine games as the Aggie point guard. Freshman Viko Noma?aea has seen action in nine games this year.
?We have three options at the point,? said Morrill, who did not elaborate on who would start or if all three would play tonight.
Following the setback at Wyoming last Saturday, Morrill said his team was lacking confidence. He was asked on Tuesday how they could regain some confidence for the second half of league play.
?They have to get their own confidence back,? Morrill answered. ?I can tell them the things I believe about guys being good players and remind them of the good games they?ve had, but I don?t have a big syringe that I can inject confidence. The best way they can do it is to go win a game. You need a little confidence to get that done, but if we can, that will help everybody. Nothing like winning to cure some things.?
But like they have figured out already, every game in the MW is a battle. There are no easy wins, and the Wolf Pack will certainly come to Logan with confidence.
Nevada beat USU 62-54 in the first meeting this season. A horrible start to the second half was the Aggies? undoing. Jarred Shaw was the lone USU player to reach double figures in scoring with a game-best 19 points.
After an up-and-down start to the season by the Wolf Pack, they have played a lot better since league play began and sit in third place in the standings. Four Nevada players average double digits in the scoring department.
?(Deonte) Burton is the star, the guy who makes it all go,? Morrill said of the Wolf Pack. ?The key for them after struggling a little bit in the preseason, they got (AJ) West eligible. That helped them get over the hump. ... They?re playing really well, they?ve got lots of weapons, and that?s why they?re 7-2.
?... You can?t just focus on Burton, that?s for sure. You have to defend everybody. He gets them going on the break. ... They?ve got some solid guys off the bench, but their starters are playing a lot of minutes. They?re the ones who are primarily getting it done for them.?
Certainly being back at the Spectrum will help the Aggies. However, they have dropped three at home, including their last two.
?It certainly helps us when our crowd is into the game and trying to figure out a way to get us over the top, but we have to play good basketball,? Morrill said. ?You?re not just going to show up and win because you?re at home. Certainly it will help get our confidence back which will help, then you have the opportunity to play well which gives you an opportunity to win.?
