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LOGAN -- The Utah State Aggies (10-6, 0-2 WAC) are not the same team they were last year. The Aggies have yet to win a conference game and can't quite figure out how to win on the road. The Aggies, who are 8-1 at home and 2-5 on the road, will be looking for their first conference win against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (8-8, 1-2) Monday, Jan. 11 at the Spectrum.
On any given night anyone can beat anyone in the WAC; the league is really balanced.
–USU Head Coach Stew Morrill
The Aggies are coming of a 30-5 season with four returning starters from last years' team, yet they're winless (0-2) in the WAC for only the second time in their five years in the conference. They started WAC play with a 0-2 record in the 2006-2007 season. The Aggies ended up finishing that season 9-9 in conference, lost to New Mexico State in the WAC Championship game, 72-70 and eventually lost in the first round of the NIT to Michigan, 68-58 at Michigan.
Aggie Head Coach Stew Morrill feels his team needs to quit worrying about the expectations and just play basketball.
"Our team has felt a lot of pressure coming off last year," said Morrill, "We need to enjoy ourselves and focus on the game plan."
The Aggies lost big to Louisiana Tech Monday, Jan. 4 at Ruston, La., 82-60. Utah State's only lead of the game came via a layup from Nate Bendall on the Aggies' second possession for a 2-0 lead. Following a three-pointer from Tyler Newbold to make the score 13-9 in favor of the home team, Louisiana Tech went on a 13-4 run to double up USU at 26-13 with seven minutes remaining in the half.
LTU's largest lead of the half was 17 following a layup from Kyle Gibson and the Bulldogs took a 34-20 lead into the locker room after Jared Quayle hit a three-pointer just before the half.
The University of Hawaii men's basketball team suffered a six-minute scoring drought in the first half Saturday and lost to Fresno State 78-64. The Warriors dropped to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in the WAC.
The Warriors fell behind by 18 at the half and could not get closer than the final margin in the second half. Warrior's senior forward Roderick Flemings, who leads Hawaii in scoring (15 ppg) and also averages almost 6 rebounds a game, scored all 13 of his points in the second half after picking up three fouls and only playing eight minutes in the first half, in which he took zero shots. Warriors' junior guard Jeremy Lay came off the bench and led Hawaii with 14 points. Hawaii shot 50 percent from the field, but committed 15 costly turnovers which led to 24 Bulldog points.
Our team has felt a lot of pressure coming off last year. We need to enjoy ourselves and focus on the game plan.
–USU Head Coach Stew Morrill
In the last meeting between the Aggies and Warriors, Utah State clinched the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball title outright with an 82-62 win against the Warriors at home on Feb. 26, 2009.
Then-senior forward Gary Wilkinson had the best home outing of his career with a game-high 27 points, netting 16 points in the second half. He was one of four Aggie starters in double-figures, as sophomore forward Tai Wesley added 16 points. Newbold had 12 points, and Quayle tossed in 11 points to go along with a career-high tying eight assists. Hawaii was led by Hiram Thompson's 16 points, while Bill Amis and Flemings added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Warriors are led by Flemings and junior guard Dwain Williams, who is averaging 14.8 points. Thompson is scoring 10.3 points per game.
"Their personnel are athletic and big," said Morrill, "(Roderick) Flemings is a premier player in the league."
Even though the Aggies are 6-1 at home against the Warriors, Coach Morrill said the WAC is too balanced to take a win, home or road, for granted.
"On any given night anyone can beat anyone in the WAC; the league is really balanced," said Morrill.
The Aggies are obviously concerned about their 0-2 record but Coach Morrill is emphasizing focus on the task at hand.
"We can't worry about 0-2, let's worry about Hawaii," said Morrill.
Tip-off against the Warriors is slated for Monday at 7 p.m. in the Spectrum.
