Utah State hoping to avoid a letdown

MOSCOW, Idaho — The circumstances surrounding Utah State's Big West Conference opener with Idaho are similar to those the Aggies faced when they traveled to IP-Fort Wayne and lost earlier in the year.

Like Fort Wayne, the Aggies are coming off a lopsided win over an in-state opponent, and like Fort Wayne (2-5 at the time), the Aggies are facing an Idaho team tonight at 8 p.m. that is under .500 at 1-8.

Have the Aggies learned their lesson?

"Certainly coming off a nice performance and a good win (at BYU) should help us as long as we don't relax," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "The last time we relaxed it wasn't a good deal (losing at IPFW). If we could bottle up the energy and effort we had at BYU we would be a pretty competitive team every night out."

Also, IPFW was coming off a loss over a lesser opponent in Morehead State when it nipped the Aggies, 64-59, and the Vandals are coming off an 82-53 loss to Southern Utah.

"Their record doesn't indicate what kind of team they have," Morrill said. "As I told the players, hopefully we understand the importance of this first league game and we feel good about ourselves right now."

The Vandals lost their first seven games of the season and six of them, including the first three, were by 10 points or less.

Idaho didn't pick up its first win until Dec. 11, when it beat University of Great Falls, 79-47.

After having their four-game winning streak snapped at IPFW, the Aggies have won two in a row over Weber State and BYU.

"You hear coaches talk all the time about energy, and there's no formula," Morrill said. "A lot of it's up to individuals, a lot of it's up to circumstances, be it travel, be it where you are in the season. But I think that's a key ingredient to most basketball games, is how excited they are to play, how much energy they have."

Despite the record, the Vandals, who finished 9-9 in league play last year, present problems for the Aggies.

"it's kind of a mismatch of sorts — our weaknesses are some of their strengths," Morrill said. "We have a hard time guarding people off the dribble and that's what they look to do at every position."

Senior forward Spencer Nelson leads the team in scoring (15.6), rebounds (8.7) and assists (5), while Nate Harris leads the team in field-goal percentage (66.7) and is second in scoring (13.9) and third in rebounding (4.6).

Freshman guard Jaycee Carroll is third on the team in scoring (13.2) and second in rebounding (4.7).

Following tonight's game with the Vandals, the Aggies will have a two-week break from conference play. They open the first round of the Gossner Foods Classic on Wednesday with South Carolina State. Northern Arizona and Loyola Marymount are the other two entries in the Classic.

Utah State will open its home conference schedule Jan. 6 with Santa Barbara.

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Aggies on the air

Utah State (7-2) at Idaho (1-8)

Today, 8 p.m.

TV: None

Radio: 610 AM (Logan), 98.3 FM (SLC)

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E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com