USU basketball: Morrill not pleased to face 'family'

MOSCOW, Idaho — If Stew Morrill had his wish, he'd probably rather not even play tonight's game against Idaho.

It's not that he's overly concerned about how his No. 21 Utah State team will fare against the Vandals — he is worried, naturally — but it's just that Morrill would rather not coach against the Vandals.

Or, more accurately, he'd rather not coach against Don Verlin.

"It's never fun to play friends," Morrill said. "It's worse to play family."

And Verlin — or V, as Morrill calls him — is as much a brother to the veteran USU coach as anyone in the business.

"He's family after 15 years together."

But, the Aggies and Vandals will meet tonight and as soon as pregame pleasantries are exchanged, Morrill will get down to the business of keeping Utah State (23-1 overall) unbeaten in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Aggies, winners of 18 consecutive games, will have their hands full with Idaho.

Led by point guard Mac Hopson, the Vandals have made a huge improvement in Verlin's first season at Idaho. Hopson averages 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and a WAC-best 5.8 assists per game. Idaho has already surpassed the eight wins from last season and is in position to capture a decent seed in the WAC tournament.

"Don Verlin is doing a great job," Morrill said. "They are a very competitive team every night, and like a lot of us, they are very good at home."

Beating the Aggies, as 18 opponents in a row have discovered, is no easy task.

USU has won 11 regular-season road games in a row, 15 conference games in a row and will clinch at least a tie for the WAC title if the Aggies are able to beat the Vandals.

That is something Morrill said he has not allowed himself to even think about.

"We don't do that," he said of the game as a possible title clincher. "All we do is talk about our next game.

"Playing on the road is never easy," Morrill said. "You can more easily lose both than win both. That's the nature of the road."

The Vandals are 8-2 at home this season but lost their last game inside their home dome — a 69-65 decision to Nevada two weeks ago.

Aggies on the air

No. 21 Utah St. (23-1, 11-0)

at Idaho (10-12, 4-5)

Cowen Spectrum, Moscow

Tonight, 7 p.m.

TV: Altitude; Radio: 1230 AM,

610 AM, 95.9 FM

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E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com