Utah State basketball: Stew Morrill is quietly on verge of 500 wins

MOSCOW, Idaho — Stew Morrill isn't one to get caught up in career milestones or celebrating lifetime achievements.

Ask him to discuss the fact he is sitting on 499 wins as a head coach and he'll probably change the subject and might give you a pretty nasty glare in the process. Self promotion just isn't his thing.

Tonight, though, Morrill will take his 14-6 Aggie team up against the University of Idaho and hope USU's four-game win streak stretches to five — and if he happens to hit career win No. 500 in the process, well, that's just dandy, too.

But while Morrill hasn't discussed the career plateau much, those he has coached with and against recognize the difficulty reaching such a mark entails.

"His legacy speaks for itself," said Randy Rahe, the current Weber State head coach who coached as an understudy with Morrill. "There are some people who coach this game for a long, long time and will never ever accomplish the things that coach Morrill has accomplished. To get to 500 wins is incredible."

The Vandals have had a full week to prepare for Utah State and Idaho, coached by another long-time Morrill disciple in Don Verlin, will be as prepared for the Aggies as any team USU will face this year.

Morrill, who picked up win No. 499 with a stunning 69-43 beatdown of Fresno State on the road Thursday night, won't have much time to practice or prepare for the Vandals. But he said after Thursday's win the Aggies would get right to work breaking down Idaho.

"They mix in a lot of double team. ... We'll show them some clips from last year," Morrill said of what USU will face. "We really handled it well in Moscow last year. We really expect them to show us a variety of looks on defense because of all the time they've had to prepare."

Though Utah State has had a tough stretch of games lately, with tonight's tipoff being the fifth road game out of seven to start the WAC season, they've won a few of those games by comfortable margins — allowing the Aggies to rest their starters for significant minutes and keep them fresh.

On Thursday night, no Aggie played more than 29 minutes and the USU bench provided a big spark, with Brian Green and Brady Jardine giving solid production.

In back-to-back games, Green has scored career highs. After 14 points against Boise State, he tossed in 17 at Fresno — hitting five 3-pointers and allowing starting wing players Tyler Newbold and Pooh Williams to sit without negatively impacting the team.