Anxious for their first opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament since 1988, Utah State's Aggies got to Salt Lake International Tuesday night only to find their original equipment (airline-speak for a plane) hamstrung at Gate C12 by bad hydraulics.
They were bumped to Plane 2, a 10 p.m. flight at gate C11, later changed to C4. Then Plane 1 was fixed, so they were sent back to C12. Aboard Plane 1, they were told their bags were on Plane 2 so Plane 1 could fly better balanced (a real confidence-builder). Another half hour for the crew to do paperwork on the repairs made it a two-hour delay and 11:45 p.m. MST arrival, plus getting rental cars and driving 30 miles to the hotel.That's not new to frequent fliers, of course. Coach Larry Eustachy, who flew to Sacramento on booster Jim Laub's private plane, was waiting to hold a team meeting and nobody came.
USU's first-round opponent, Maryland, had no picnic, either, with the longest travel distance in the field of 64.
That's not new to the Terps. They were sent to Salt Lake City for first and second rounds in 1995 and went on to Oakland before bowing out, and they went to Tempe in 1996.
Utah State (25-7), seeded 13th in the Western Regional, is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years. Fourth-seeded Maryland (19-10) is making its fifth NCAA appearance in the last five years.
They meet at 12:42 p.m. MST Thursday in the opener of the Sacramento subregional at ARCO Arena. The victor meets the survivor of Thursday's Illinois-South Alabama game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. MST.
Maryland is considered the best of the fourth seeds in the country's four regionals. It has two seniors (Rodney Elliott, Sarunas Jasikevicius) who are making their fourth NCAA appearances, the seventh and eighth Terps to ever do that. Jeff Baxter and the late Len Bias were the first, playing in the NCAAs from 1983-86.
USU doesn't even have a fourth-year player on the roster. Senior Justin Jones, with three USU seasons, is the elder statesman after starting at Idaho State and then serving an LDS mission. No Aggie player has NCAA Tourney experience. Eustachy and assistant Steve Barnes were there as assistants, and assistant Leonard Perry and volunteer assistant Ricky Blanton made it as players, Perry with Idaho and Blanton with Louisiana State. The Ag with the most tourney experience is the media relations guy, Mike Strauss (five times).
"You know they're (Terps) not worried about us," says Eustachy, relishing a different role. "It's rarely that we've been in a situation this season where we're not the target."
Back-to-back Big West division titles and 20-win seasons impressed most of the teams USU plays but probably not Maryland. "We're a vast underdog," Eustachy said.
The Ags are at least experienced at playing noon-hour tourney games in the Pacific time zone in an arena within walking distance of I-80. Two of their three wins in the Big West Tournament over the weekend fit that category. Also, last week, just prior to the USU winning the Big West Tourney, senior Neal Geddes became a father. On Monday, junior Mike Jones' wife gave birth. So there's a little Aggie karma.
USU is meeting a big, strong, athletic club with 7-foot and 6-8 guys coming off the bench. Elliott (6-8) scores 14.8 and gets 7.2 rebounds. Forward Laron Profit scores 16.1 with 5.0 rebounds. Center Obinna Ekezie (6-10, 256) averages 13.2 and 6.6.
Because they're big and agile, they rebound well. Each Terp has a defined role. Four are shooters; the point guard isn't. They push the ball and press. They've beaten No. 1 NCAA seeds Kansas and North Carolina; they lost to UNC in overtime in the ACC tournament. Their schedule was the nation's toughest. They're 7-3 in their last 10 games.
USU has won five straight, nine of its last 11. Thursday will be its 33rd game of the season, tying the school record set in 1996. It participated in the first NCAA Tourney in 1939, losing 50-39 to Oklahoma. It last participated in 1988, and it last won in 1970. Point guard Marcus Saxon (17.2 ppg) and forward Kevin Rice (15.3, 6.4 rpg) top USU statistically with guard Justin Jones at 10.8. USU's inside players, 6-6, 217-pound Donnie Johnson and 6-5, 228-pound Pharoah Davis, gets 7.5 and 6.5 rebounds, respectively.