Utah State basketball: Aggies face road challenge

Utah State coach Stew Morrill has often said the most difficult game on a road trip is not the second, but the first. The nerves are a little higher, the tension from traveling is fresher and the opponent has had more time to prepare and practice.

That might have been the case Thursday night when the Western Athletic Conference-leading Aggies were nearly beaten at San Jose State in a tight 62-58 decision.

Instead of losing, however, the Aggies pushed their nation's-best road winning streak to seven games and their overall winning streak to a lucky 13.

Now, the task is to carry that to Hawaii for what many think is the hardest road trip in the WAC, despite the tropical destination.

The long flight coming after a game can be grueling, Morrill said, but many often overlook the fact the Warriors are usually making the same type of trips and often don't have the same home-court advantage as a result.

"Their travel is brutal. They are back and forth every other week and that is just tough," the veteran USU coach said. "That is one of the reasons they don't leave the island much in pre-season. They have so many trips in conference that are just tough."

Case in point: Hawaii played, and lost, at Nevada Thursday night and when taking into account connecting flights from Reno to Honolulu, will have less rest than the Aggies.

Still, Morrill is not willing to let his team take the Warriors — last in the WAC with a 1-5 mark and a 9-9 overall record — lightly.

The Warriors might have lost four in a row, but they've also been on the mainland for three of those losses and have a more-than-respectable 9-5 record in the Stan Sheriff Center against some fairly stiff competition.

They also can rest on the knowledge that a Morrill-coached Aggie team has yet to beat Hawaii in that arena.

"I am sure they will be ready to play. It is the one place in the WAC we have not won on the road," Morrill said. "They may be tired from the travel and it might help us but we can't bank on it."

The Aggies will try to fix a couple of the glaring problems that nearly cost them a win Thursday, including shooting a season-worst 37.9 percent from the floor and being outrebounded by eight.

A repeat performance tonight might tempt fate once too often.

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E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com

Aggies on the air

Utah State (18-1, 6-0 WAC) at Hawaii (9-9, 1-5)

Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu

Tonight, 10 p.m.

TV: KJZZ, ESPN Full Court

Radio: 1230 AM, 610 AM, 95.9 FM