Aggies, Rebels know each other well


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LOGAN — When Utah State joined the Mountain West Conference, myriad things came with the move from the dying Western Athletic Conference: more money, better access to higher-quality recruits; and a bigger media stage upon which to expand the Aggies’ basketball brand.

The greatest thing, however, which has received the least amount of media coverage, is the Aggies finally have legitimate rivals. They are rivals that have actual basketball traditions to stack up against Utah State’s, and that was something that was few and far between in the WAC.

UNLV is one of those schools with great tradition.

Its program has long been categorized as one of college basketball’s renegades. It's filled with stories of both success and shame from the exhilarating high of the 1990 national championship to the low of several stars from that team being caught with a known game-fixer. UNLV is a name that elicits a strong reaction from fans.

#USU

The Aggies know all about UNLV’s infamous reputation. If anything, Utah State was a poster child for fan bases that loved to hate Vegas and everything about its college basketball team.

Of course, there was the famous brawl at the Thomas and Mack Center in Vegas, coupled with the water bomb that fans released in the direction of the UNLV bench at the Spectrum in Logan.

Utah State hosts UNLV in the Spectrum Saturday, and the game is interesting for several reasons: the history; the coaching matchup; and the simple fact that the Aggies were waxed, 62-42, in Vegas Jan. 22.

Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said that while the upcoming game has significant meaning for various reasons, his team is focused on merely continuing the positive feelings that have recently been felt in Logan.

“Our team is playing better (since the) last time we played them,” he noted. “Hopefully, that’s a good thing for us. We really had two choices after the first half of league: cash it in and not win any more games or try and regroup and figure out what we need to do. That’s kind of been the approach these kids have taken.”

UNLV coach Dave Rice, who played in the Spectrum and later coached there with Morrill, said he’s excited to bring his team to Logan so it can experience the Aggies’ home court.

"I feel very fortunate to consider Coach 
Morrill as a mentor, as a friend, and also 
someone I worked for that just knows so much 
about basketball."
"I feel very fortunate to consider Coach Morrill as a mentor, as a friend, and also someone I worked for that just knows so much about basketball." (Photo: Associated Press)

“We did have some epic battles in the Spectrum,” said Rice, who is in his third season coaching at his alma mater. “I’ve always had a great deal of respect for the college atmosphere that was there with the students right on top of you, and just how hard Utah State’s players played. (It’s) just a difficult environment to try and go compete in.”

After coaching at UNLV for more than a decade as an assistant, Rice left Vegas for Logan, where he worked as an assistant coach for the Aggies for a season. Rice said the experience was a great time in his coaching career.

“Every day was a coaching clinic,” he noted. “He (Morrill) is as good as there is in terms of preparing his team, in terms of half-court execution, in terms of being detail-oriented. I learned so much in the year that I worked for him, and I think he’s one of the best in our game.

“I feel very fortunate to consider Coach Morrill as a mentor, as a friend, and also someone I worked for that just knows so much about basketball.”

Even though he only coached with the Aggies for one season, Morrill said he knew Rice would be a successful head coach.

“Dave (Rice) was with me one year, and I liked him a lot,” said Morrill, who will look for his 600th win as head coach on Saturday. “You always hope for your assistants that they get a chance to be head coaches. (I) certainly knew he was bright, knew he had a great personality with people, and (that Rice) had a really good feel for the game, having been around it his whole life. I’m not surprised with how well he’s done.”

Rice played and coached under legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV, and also worked for notable former UNLV coaches Bill Bayno and Charlie Spoonhour. Still, Rice said he considers Morrill to be among the best coaches he’s seen because he has a successful system in place — a system that’s taken the Aggies to the sixth-highest winning percentage in the country since 2000.

“I think he does a fabulous job,” said Rice, who also coached at Brigham Young before taking the head job at UNLV. “I think that he’s a much better recruiter than people probably give him credit for. I think that what he’s done over the course of his 28-year head coaching career is that he’s hired great staff. He’s hired staff that understands that they’re recruiting to his system.”

With the defeat in Vegas at the hands of his protégé still fresh in his mind, Morrill said the Aggies have to improve in a variety of areas in order to continue their three-game conference winning streak.

"Certainly knew he was bright; knew he had a 
great personality with people; and (Rice) had a 
really good feel for the game, having been 
around it his whole life. I'm not surprised 
with how well he's done."
"Certainly knew he was bright; knew he had a great personality with people; and (Rice) had a really good feel for the game, having been around it his whole life. I'm not surprised with how well he's done." (Photo: Associated Press)

“The thing that is always a concern for us is being able to guard all the athletic teams in this league,” he said. “We’ve gotten to where we do a better job helping each other, but I would say our defense has got to continue to improve, and a lot of that comes with the effort.”

Rice said he’s most worried about Utah State’s perimeter shooting, especially in Logan.

“I think the three-point shooting of (Preston) Medlin and (Spencer) Butterfield is right there at the top,” he stated. “Just how explosive they are, the way they can run off several three-point shots in a row. The problem is if you spend too much time worrying about that then (Jarred) Shaw and (Kyle) Davis can hurt you inside.”

With that in mind, Morrill said he expects Saturday’s game to a titanic struggle.

“We’re just hopeful we can play better than we did last time against UNLV,” he stated. “They pretty much dominated the game, and just took us out of a lot of different things we were trying to do. With their ability on the boards and their quickness, defensively it’s certainly a challenge.”

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Jon Oglesby

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