Utah State basketball: Aggies hoping stock will rise in Reno

RENO, Nev. — Three games in three days.

That's what Utah State's season, 31 regular-season games in the making, has come down to.

And in a big little city famous for playing the odds, Morrill hopes three is, again, the Aggies' lucky draw.

"The conference tournament is a crapshoot," Morrill said. "Hopefully we can come up with some good numbers."

So far, USU's numbers have been nothing short of remarkable. The Western Athletic Conference champions by three full games when the season closed, Utah State (25-6, 14-2) enters this afternoon's tipoff against Boise State as the No. 1 seed.

Typically, a 1 vs. 8 matchup in the opening round of a conference tournament isn't much to get stressed over. But Boise State hasn't exactly been playing like an No. 8 seed recently.

"They're playing their best basketball of the season," Morrill said. "Boise might be playing as well as any of the teams 5-8 in the tournament."

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Broncos weren't sure if they'd even qualify for the WAC tourney, as they shared a pillow fight with Hawaii at the bottom of the league standings for several weeks. But with not-so-quiet whispers coming from the Treasure Valley about coach Greg Graham's job status, BSU rallied.

Winning three of its final four games — each in impressive manner — the Broncos (15-16) have a load of confidence and might enjoy playing the role of spoiler in Utah State's NCAA Tournament aspirations.

The Aggies, on the other hand, are hoping to see their stock rise come Selection Sunday.

Most bracket predictions show USU in the field even if they don't win the WAC tourney. But a loss to BSU (RPI of 208) could very easily be all the rationale the committee needs to exclude the Aggies from at-large consideration.

Beating the Broncos, though, would likely secure a spot in the field of 65 and Utah State (RPI of 31) would move on to fighting for a favorable seed as well as a WAC tourney title.

After a day of rest and film study, Morrill said his team has spent all of its focus on scouting the Broncos and he feels confident in that preparation.

"They will grasp it," Morrill said of his team's ability to soak in coaching strategy. "They're pretty good at listening ... as we watch tape, they'll get a pretty good feel for what they need to do."

Lately, that has been play outstanding defense.